Pakistan welcome back Babar Azam to T20Is after a year in white-ball squads for South Africa and home tri-series
Pakistan have named the ODI and T20I squads for the upcoming series against South Africa, with the same contingent also set to compete in the T20I tri-series featuring Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Shaheen Afridi will lead in his first ODI series while Babar Azam is back to being an all-format cricketer.
Pakistan cricket team on Thursday named two separate squads for their upcoming white-ball ventures with 16-men in the running to feature in a three-match ODI series against South Africa that will follow a 15-man contingent taking them on in three T20Is, before Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe arrive for a home T20I tri-series. The ODIs will see Shaheen Afridi lead the team in the format for the first-time after a brief stint as the T20 skipper last year where he led in a solitary series against New Zealand, losing 4-1. The announcement also marks a return to Babar Azam for the team following a rueful Asia Cup campaign where they lost to India thrice, including the final in Dubai.
The ODI squad has four changes from Pakistan's latest endeavour in the format against West Indies, with Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Haris, Hasan Ali, and Sufiyan Muqeem not retained from the team that lost 2-1 in the Caribbean earlier this year. While Haris, Hasan, and Muqeem have like-to-like replacements in Haseebullah, Haris Rauf, and Faisal Akram respectively, the side has decided to add extra bowling cover in Mohammad Wasim Junior.
Haris, Hasan, and Muqeem also missed out on the T20 squads, with Usman Khan, Naseem Shah, and Usman Tariq taking over the vacant slots. Naseem is yet to feature in a T20I in 2025 after managing just 10 wickets in 11 outings last year while also enduring a horrid Pakistan Super League campaign, but has sprung back since with a decent showing in the Caribbean Premier League. Tariq's inclusion also comes at the behest of a successful CPL where he finished as the second highest wicket-taker, scalping two wickets a game on average at an economy of 7.31 and seems earmarked to receive a first international cap. Hussain Talat and Khushdil Shah are the other two members from the Asia Cup squad to miss out, paving the path for top-order batter Abdul Samad's addition to the squad.
Pakistan's struggles with the bat in the Asia Cup have also allowed for the return of Babar Azam, despite the veteran playing no short-format cricket since head coach Mike Hesson declared the batter needed to work on his strike rate if he ever to return to the international mix. Babar is Pakistan's only batter with over 4,000 runs in T20Is, the second most of any batter in history, with three tons to his name at an average of 39.83 and a strike rate close to 130. Babar's inclusion comes at the cost of Fakhar Zaman, who had himself made a comeback into the team at the Asia Cup and finished as their second highest run-scorer behind Sahibzada Farhan. Notably, Rizwan, their only other batter with over 3,000 runs, remains absent from the set-up despite the duo being axed together after pairing up-top for Pakistan for a substantial period of time.
Pakistan play the Proteas in the opening T20I in Lahore on October 28, followed by two games in Rawalpindi on October 31 and November 1 respectively. The ODI series will run from November 4 till 8 with Faisalabad to play host, while the T20I tri-series begins on November 17 after three ODIs against Sri Lanka.
ODI squad vs SA: Shahen Shah Afridi (c), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha
T20I squad vs SA and tri-series: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wk), Usman Tariq
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