Babar Azam, Saim Ayub Dropped From Pakistan ODI Squad

Pakistan dropped Babar Azam and Saim Ayub from the ODI squad for the Bangladesh series starting March 11, with six uncapped players included.

Pakistan announced a new ODI squad for the 3-match series against Bangladesh starting March 11. Babar Azam and Saim Ayub have been dropped as the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) began a team rebuild after the disappointing T20 World Cup 2026 campaign.

Both players were also left out of the final Super Eight match against Sri Lanka, where Pakistan needed to restrict the hosts to 147 to go to the semi-finals. Once the automatic choice across formats, Babar Azam has struggled in T20Is in recent seasons. However, ODIs remain his strongest format. He scored a century in the recent Sri Lanka ODI series.

Ayub also faced disappointment despite strong ODI numbers. He scored 751 runs in 17 innings at an average of 46.94 and a strike rate of 100.

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Six uncapped players earned call-ups. Sahibzada Farhan led the list after emerging as Pakistan’s top run-scorer in the tournament. Abdul Samad, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Saad Masood and Shamyl Hussain also joined the squad. All featured for Pakistan Shaheens against England Lions in Abu Dhabi.

Several other experienced players also missed selection. Fakhar Zaman, Haseebullah, Mohammad Nawaz and Naseem Shah dropped out of the squad that played Sri Lanka in the 2025 ODI series.

Pakistan will reach Bangladesh on March 8 for the ODI series. The team will hold a training session on March 10. The first ODI will take place on March 11 at the Shere Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.

Pakistan 15-Member Squad

Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), 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.