When the 16-man Pakistan squad was announced for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, there were as many as eight changes from the squad that went to New Zealand in April.
This shows how Pakistan selectors have been chopping and changing consistently. This practice will hamper Pakistan’s progress. More so, because after the annual update of the ICC rankings, Pakistan team is now eighth in the T20I rankings. They barely qualified for the Twenty20 World Cup 2026 due to rankings, as they had not reached the Super Eight of the last Twenty20 International World Cup.
In the last 14 months alone, Pakistan has given 11 players their debut in Twenty20 cricket – the highest by any team in the world.
This shows how the selectors bring in players with little contemplation and then discard them after a series or two. The T20I squad that went to New Zealand in 2024 under Shaheen Shah Afridi and the one that went under Salman Ali Agha this year had seven changes.
Constant change
If that was not enough, the squad announced for the Bangladesh series has eight changes from the one that went to New Zealand.
Of those replaced are Abbas Afridi, Abdul Samad, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Umair bin Yousuf, Sufyan Muqeem and Usman Khan. These players were sent on a tough tour to New Zealand and when they could not achieve what was desired of them, they are now out of the home series, with conditions favourable.
The latest selection has been muddled in confusion, with some players picked on PSL showings and a few on the basis of the last series Pakistan had played in New Zealand.
Star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are out of the T20I teams for a third series now. Sources said newly appointed white-ball head coach Mike Hesson had wanted the inclusion of both Babar and Rizwan, but the selection committee told him he may get one, but not in the Bangladesh series, where they wanted to test a few new players.
Unconventional choices
The selection of a few Islamabad United players like Naseem Shah and Hussian Talat has raised a few eyebrows as both did not have good performances in the PSL X.
Naseem went for 50 runs in the last three matches of the PSL X — a factor in Islamabad United crashing out of the event in the Qualifier 2.
The same has been the case with captaincy. Soon after the 2023 ODI World Cup, Babar Azam relinquished captaincy of all three formats. This led to the appointment of Shaheen Shah Afridi. Shaheen was axed after Pakistan suffered a 4-1 loss in New Zealand in 2024. Shockingly, Babar was handed back the reins, but he too was compelled to leave the hot seat after Pakistan crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2024, losing to the USA and India.
Mohammad Rizwan was next, handed captaincy for the Australia and South Africa series but in between it was decided to drop him, and Salman Ali Agha was captain in the Zimbabwe series.
Surprisingly, Salman was not played in any of the two T20Is in South Africa!
More surprises
When Pakistan crashed out of the Champions Trophy after losing to New Zealand and India, Rizwan was surprisingly removed as T20I captain. He had failed in ODIs, but the axe fell in T20Is. It was decided that new players will be tested for a tough tour of New Zealand. The result: Pakistan went down 4-1 as greenhorns struggled in the seaming conditions of New Zealand.
Now, after the PSL X, Pakistan will be playing Bangladesh at home. Babar, Rizwan and Shaheen are not part of the squad. Have we decided that Babar and Rizwan will no longer be required in T20Is?
I don’t think it’s final. In fact, I suspect they will be brought back weeks before the World Cup in a big U-TURN!
Pakistan has been the world number one in T20I rankings. It is imperative that Pakistan lift their standards in T20Is before the World Cup. Don’t expect good results in the coming Asia Cup — also in a T20I format — or in the World Cup. Team building needs time, but team busting does not take much time. The need of the hour is to give confidence to new players.
If Pakistan continued to slide, then it would be tough to get direct entry into the World Cup.
Timeline of chopping and changes:
Squad vs New Zealand 2024
Shaheen Shah Afridi (Captain), Mohammad Rizwan (VC), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Usama Mir, Zaman Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Haris Rauf, Sahibzada Farhan, Haseebullah, Aamir Jamal.
New additions (in Australia, Zimbabwe Series): Arafat Minhas, Jahandad Khan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Salman Ali Agha, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan
Dropped after NZ series 2024: Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Aamir Jamal, Iftikhar Ahmed, Zaman Khan, Usama Mir, Saim Ayub
New additions: Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Tayyab Tahir, Saim Ayub (returns)
New additions (New Zealand 2025): Abdul Samad, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan
Dropped from SA squad: Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Tayyab Tahir, Saim Ayub
Out after New Zealand series: Abbas Afridi, Abdul Samad, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Umair bin Yousuf, Sufyan Muqeem and Usman Khan
In for Bangladesh series: Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Sahibzada Farhan, Naseem Shah, Hussain Talat, Hasan Ali.
