Babar Azam axed as PCB announces Pakistan’s ODI squad for Bangladesh tour

On Wednesday, March 4, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Pakistan’s 15-member ODI squad for the forthcoming Bangladesh tour. Notably, the major talking point is that Babar Azam has been axed from the squad.

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Delving into the details, the struggling batter has been axed from the recent Sri Lankan T20I clash in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign after a series of poor scores with the willow, batting at No.4.

Apart from Babar's exclusion, the selectors have also surprised everyone by including as many as six uncapped players in the squad. Sahibzada Farhan, Abdul Samad, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Saad Masood, and Shamyl Hussain have been picked as the uncapped players in the squad.

Moreover, the squad doesn’t have Saim Ayub, who has three centuries and two half-centuries in his previous 13 ODIs, playing a pivotal role in Pakistan’s away series wins in Australia and South Africa in 2024.

Mohammad Rizwan, who was not part of the T20 World Cup 2026, has retained his spot in the ODI setup as the wicketkeeper. Moreover, Haris Rauf retained spot as well. All three ODIs will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on March 11, 13, and 15.

Speaking about Pakistan’s bowling department, Abrar Ahmed is the primary spinner, with Faisal Akram being the secondary spinner. Delving into the details of the pace battery, Shaheen Afridi leads the attack alongside Haris Rauf and Faheem Ashraf. 

Pakistan’s ODI Squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Saad Masood, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shamyl Hussain.

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