PCB has selected a 15 member team for the T20I series against Bangladesh. Salman Ali Agha will lead the team in the three matches starting from July 20.
While the team has some familiar faces, fans were surprised to see Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi left out. Let’s see why these two were not selected.
Babar Azam’s Recent Form
Babar Azam, the star player, hasn’t been in good form lately. His overall stats are okay but his T20 form hasn’t been good enough. Since T20 World Cup last year, he has scored only 200 runs, averaging 25. His scoring rate has been a concern for Pakistan as he hasn’t been able to score fast enough. His strike rate during this time is 112.99 which shows how hard it has been for him to score quickly.
Pakistan Super League was a good opportunity for Babar to improve his form and convince the selectors to bring him back in the T20I team. But his form wasn’t good enough as he scored 288 runs at an average of 36 and a strike rate of 128.57. So it makes sense that Pakistan would pick more aggressive batsmen as Babar hasn’t been a steady player.
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Shaheen Afridi’s Performance
Shaheen Afridi did well in the Pakistan Super League, taking 19 wickets in 12 games with an economy of 12. But even with his good performance in the tournament, he wasn’t selected for the T20I team as his recent T20 form wasn’t good. Shaheen had a tour of New Zealand he would rather forget, taking only 2 wickets in 4 games. He also couldn’t keep the score down, with an economy of 10.23. So he wasn’t included in the next T20I team.
Pakistan’s new coach Mike Hesson has said that both players can come back in the T20I team if they play well consistently at the domestic level.
