Salman Ali Agha: “Replacing Babar, Rizwan and Shaheen is a challenging task. They have served Pakistan a lot and I hope they will continue to serve in the future as well”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan T20I captain Salman Ali Agha admitted that replacing left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi and the batting duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan “is a challenging task”.
Azam and ODI captain Rizwan have not been picked for Pakistan’s last few T20I assignments, while Afridi only made his comeback in the recently-concluded three-match T20I series against the West Indies.
Salman acknowledged how good the trio and hinted that they still have a future in the shortest format.
“Replacing Babar, Rizwan and Shaheen is a challenging task. They have served Pakistan a lot and I hope they will continue to serve in the future as well,” he was quoted as saying by Khel Shel on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam, Rizwan and Afridi were recently involved in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and captained the Peshawar Zalmi, Multan Sultans and Lahore Qalandars respectively.
Azam scored 288 runs in 10 games, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
Rizwan accumulated 367 runs in 10 matches, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 52.42 and a strike-rate of 139.54.
As for Afridi, he finished as the highest wicket-taker in PSL 10 with 19 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 16.42 and an economy rate of 7.76.
Following the conclusion of the PSL, all three of them weren’t selected for Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, which the men in green won 3-0.
They also missed out on the tour of Bangladesh, where Pakistan were beaten 2-1 in the T20I series.
As for the ongoing tour of the West Indies, Afridi returned to the T20I team and claimed two wickets in two matches at an average of 29 and an economy rate of 7.25.
Pakistan and the West Indies are now playing a three-match ODI series, which Azam, Rizwan and Afridi are featuring in.
Azam has made 47 runs in two games at an average of 23.50, while Rizwan has amassed 69 runs, which includes a top score of 53, at an average of 34.50.
Afridi, meanwhile, has picked up four wickets at an average of 21.50.
The series is tied at 1-1 heading into the 3rd ODI on August 12 in Trinidad.
Pakistan Squad for West Indies T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufiyan Muqeem
Pakistan Squad for West Indies ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufiyan Muqeem
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