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Babar Azam And...? Pakistan Likely To Drop 3 Players From T20Is After Australia Series Defeat

Babar Azam had a poor Australia tour [Source: @MidnightMusinng/X]Babar Azam had a poor Australia tour [Source: @MidnightMusinng/X]

After registering a historic ODI series victory after 22 years on Australian soil, Pakistan failed to replicate a similar success in the three-match T20I series. Led by Josh Inglis, Australia exhibited commendable skills, outclassing Mohammad Rizwan and co across departments in all three games. 

While the first and third matches witnessed Australia's dominance over the visitors, the second match in Sydney was a close contest, which the hosts eventually won by 13 runs. With the emphatic victory in Hobart, the Aussies avenged the ODI series defeat, clean-sweeping the Men in Green by three-nil. 

Although Pakistan have announced a relatively young squad for the upcoming Zimbabwe series, the performance of several senior players on the Australia tour needs introspection. As the series has concluded, let's analyse and find out which players might be dropped from Pakistan's future T20I assignments for the betterment of the team. 

Babar Azam

The talismanic right-handed batter has been the backbone of Pakistan's batting unit across formats over the years. However, Babar Azam has been marred by poor form and inconsistency since January this year. 

Statistically, the experienced batter has managed only 935 runs at a mediocre average of 32.24 in 2024. He is short of confidence, and his lean patch in Tests certainly took a toll on him in the Australia series, as he could score only 47 runs across three outings. So, considering his recent poor form, Pakistan might be searching for a quality alternative to replace him in the shortest format. 

Naseem Shah

Pakistan's promising fast bowler Naseem Shah has been struggling with his form for quite some time now. Naseem has been particularly underwhelming in T20Is, scalping only 11 wickets at a horrible economy of 9.04 in his last 13 outings. 

The pacer, who recorded a three-wicket haul in the final ODI in Perth, looked out of sorts in the T20I leg, with the Aussies making merry on his good-length bowling. So, considering he doesn't have a lot of tricks up his sleeve and the emergence of Abbas Afridi, Naseem might be sidelined from Pakistan's T20I setup for a long period.

Irfan Khan

Renowned for his hard-hitting skills, Irfan Khan was viewed as Iftikhar Ahmed's potential replacement in the shortest format. However, the lower middle-order batter couldn't live up to the hype on the Australia tour, wasting many opportunities where he could've stood tall for his team. 

Apart from Irfan Khan's abysmal performance, the presence of quality finishers like Arafat Minhas might shut the door for the explosive right-hander. Minhas was outstanding in the Emerging Asia Cup and can be tried as a finisher in the upcoming Zimbabwe T20Is.