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Ahead of the highly anticipated Asia Cup 2025, which is set to begin in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on September 9, Shaheen Afridi, the former Pakistan captain in the T20I format, commented on the exclusion of senior players Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the squad for the tournament. The 25-year-old talked about how Babar-Rizwan are “world-class players”, who will play again for Pakistan, but for now, everyone needs to back the youngsters picked in their place.
Pakistan are in Group A of the Asia Cup 2025, which will be played in the T20I format, alongside arch rivals India, the UAE, and Oman, with their opening match set to happen against the latter on September 12, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. After that, just two days later, the Men in Green will take on India with their fixture marred with controversy due to the strained political relationship between both the nations.
Babar and Rizwan are world-class players: Shaheen Afridi
Under a relatively new T20I captain, Salman Agha, the Pakistan team management are looking to build a team for the future, while keeping in mind the T20 World Cup 2026, set to begin in South Asia in February next year. With Shaheen Afridi being the part of the squad, he was asked about the exclusion of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in favour of the youngsters, which he handled admirably.
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As per the report from GeoSuper, Shaheen Afridi said, “I believe everyone should get the opportunity. Babar and Rizwan are world-class players, and they played pretty good cricket for Pakistan and by the will of Almighty Allah, will play again. But again, everyone should get the opportunity, and they should grab it with both hands. They are our youngsters as well, so we should back them.”
Regardless, the Pakistan team management will be backing its youngsters to deliver the results during the Asia Cup 2025, which is going to help them in building momentum towards the T20 World Cup next year.
