Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf showed his strong displeasure over the omission of star batter Babar Azam from the national squad for the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the squad for the series and it consists of 15 players, who will be playing from March 11 to 15.
All the three One Day Internationals are scheduled at the Sher e Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.
The squad witnessed the dismissal of six players including the ex-captain Babar Azam. They were replaced by six uncapped players, Abdul Samad, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Saad Masood, Sahibzada Farhan and Shamyl Hussain.
The decision marks a huge change as the selectors went for new faces instead of tried and tested names.
The move was made just as Pakistan was unable to reach semi-finals of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
The team lost out after failing to beat Sri Lanka by the required margin in their last Super Eights match on February 28.
The early exit meant even more scrutiny over the selection and performance of teams.
While Babar was in strife for consistency in T20 World Cup where he only scored a meagre 91 runs in 6 innings at an average of 22.75, his recent performances in the ODI cricket was encouraging.
In the most recent three match ODI series at home against Sri Lanka, he contributed 165 runs and scored a century at the same time, after a long wait for a hundred in the format.
Yousuf, who played 90 Tests, 288 ODIs and three T20Is for Pakistan, criticised the move on social media.
He called it “senseless” and questioned the logic of the squad changes.
He further highlighted that the inclusion of Babar in T20 World Cup team and his exclusion in ODI team very soon was confusing.
Pakistan 15 member ODI Squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jr, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Saad Masood, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shamyl Hussain.
