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Revealed: Why PCB Dropped Babar Azam From Pakistan Squad For West Indies T20Is

Debashis Sarangi

Babar Azam was ignored for WI T20Is [Source: @OneCricketApp/X]Babar Azam was ignored for WI T20Is [Source: @OneCricketApp/X]

In a significant development, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced two robust squads for the upcoming T20I and ODI series against the West Indies. Despite making it into the ODI team, experienced batter Babar Azam couldn't get a place in the T20I side. 

Why Did Pakistan Ignore Babar Azam For WI T20Is?

While Agha Salman was retained as Pakistan's T20I captain, Mohammad Rizwan was announced as the ODI skipper. Meanwhile, ace left-arm speedster Shaheen Afridi made his comeback into the T20I squad; however, Babar Azam is one of the big names to miss out on selection for the shortest format. 

Considering Babar has had a stellar T20I career, his exclusion from the Pakistan squad raised a million eyebrows. Especially at a time when Pakistan are struggling to form a reliable top order, Babar's comeback would undoubtedly have boosted their batting unit. 

More importantly, Pakistan recently suffered an embarrassing series defeat against Bangladesh, with Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris and Hasan Khan letting the team down with poor returns. Thus, Babar Azam's T20I comeback was somewhat expected, but the selectors persisted with the youngsters, deciding to give them another chance before next year's T20 World Cup. 

However, from a neutral point of view, Babar Azam's exclusion seems justified, as he was not close to his best the last time he played a T20I series. 

He has 4223 T20I runs at an average of 39.84, and these are certainly impressive numbers. But he had two consecutive poor T20 World Cup campaigns, amassing 246 runs combined at a mediocre average of 24.6 and a strike rate of 97.23. 

After a group-stage exit from the 2024 World Cup, Pakistan decided to revamp their T20I core. Babar's exclusion is a bold decision that the PCB took to form a more aggressive top-order. Thus, unless the youngsters perform horribly in the West Indies series, the chances of Babar's comeback to the shortest format seem bleak.