Salman Ali Agha: “Babar, Rizwan, and others are key assets for us. Their presence adds balance and experience”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan T20I captain Salman Ali Agha has confirmed the batting duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan remain “key assets” in the shortest format.
His comments come after Azam and Rizwan have missed Pakistan’s last few T20I assignments.
This has given rise to speculation that their T20I careers may be over, but Salman insisted that they are still useful assets as they add “balance and experience”.
“Babar, Rizwan, and others are key assets for us. Their presence adds balance and experience,” he was quoted as saying by A Sports.
Azam and Rizwan missed Pakistan’s T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the T20I tour of Bangladesh, and the T20I series against the West Indies.
They returned to feature in the three-match ODI series against the West Indies, with Azam scoring 56 runs at an average of 18.66.
As for Rizwan, who is Pakistan’s ODI captain, he finished with 69 runs, which included a top score of 53, at an average of 23.
The men in green then took on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in a T20I series in Sharjah, which they won.
Next up for Pakistan will be the 2025 Asia Cup, which will be played in the UAE from September 9 to 28.
Neither Azam nor Rizwan were included in the squad for the T20I tri-series and Asia Cup.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: 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, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
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