Cricket-Pakistan drop former captain Babar for ODI series in Bangladesh


Cricket - ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 - Group A - India v Pakistan - R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka - February 15, 2026 Pakistan's Babar Azam in action REUTERS/Lahiru Harshana

March 4 (Reuters) - Former ⁠Pakistan captain Babar Azam was dropped from ⁠the squad for a one-day international ‌series against Bangladesh, despite scoring a century in his last ODI series.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 15-man squad ​on Wednesday that excluded Babar ⁠who made an ⁠unbeaten 102 against Sri Lanka in November.

He endured ⁠a ‌torrid time at the Twenty20 World Cup, however, managing just 91 runs ⁠across four innings as Pakistan exited at ​the Super ‌Eight stage.

Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi ⁠will captain ​the side for the three-match series starting next week in Dhaka.

The PCB called up six uncapped ⁠players including Abdul Samad, Maaz ​Sadaqat, Saad Masood and Shamyl Hussain who played against the England Lions in Abu Dhabi before ⁠the series was called off due to the conflict in the Middle East.

PAKISTAN SQUAD

Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, ​Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Hussain ⁠Talat, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, ​Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Saad ‌Masood, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali ​Agha and Shamyl Hussain

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)

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