Babar Azam DROPPED? Pakistan Coach Mike Hesson Gives Lame Reason Ahead of ODI Series vs Bangladesh

Pak vs Ban: In a stunning move, Pakistan has not named veteran cricketer Babar Azam in their ODI squad for the upcoming series against Bangladesh. His omission from the squad has sparked speculations over why he may have been omitted. Has he been dropped? Pakistan coach Mike Hesson has finally given clarity on it and claimed that Babar has not been dropped. Hesson said that the team is trying new players keeping an eye on the 2027 ODI World Cup in mind. 

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New-Look Pakistan Squad

Not just Babar, even Saim Ayub, and Naseem Shah have been dropped from the ODI squad. Meanwhile, following his brilliant show in T20s, Sahibzada Farhan has earned himself an ODI call-up. Another big takeaway from the squad announced is that Shaheen Shah Afridi has been named the captain of the ODI squad. Six uncapped players have made the squad. Some of the new names that feature in the squad are Faisal Akram, Maaz Sadaqat, Hussain Talat, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori and Shamyl Hussain. 

The Men in Green would play three ODI matches in Bangladesh with the series starting on March 11. All the three games would be played at the iconic Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka. Both sides will look at the three games as an opportunity to prep for the 2027 ODI World Cup. 

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Pakistan ODI squad vs Bangladesh

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 and Shamyl Hussain.