KARACHI – Former Pakistan Test cricketer Basit Ali on Wednesday raised concerns over the exclusion of star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi from the national squad for the upcoming T20 series against Bangladesh.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 15-member squad for the three-match T20 series, scheduled to be led by all-rounder Agha Salman. The absence of key senior players, including Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi, has surprised many fans and analysts.
Expressing disappointment over Shaheen’s omission, Basit Ali took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and questioned, “Why is he not in the team?”—while sharing a picture of Shaheen Afridi.
Shaheen last represented Pakistan in a T20 International in March 2024 against New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the PCB clarified that in addition to the selected 15 players, five more cricketers have been called up for a white-ball training camp in Karachi from July 9 to 15. These include Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Wasim Jr., all of whom are expected to report in Karachi today.
Pakistan’s squad for Bangladesh T20 series:
Captain Agha Salman, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Sufiyan Muqeem.
Three-match T20I series is scheduled as follows:
1st T20: July 20
2nd T20: July 22
3rd T20: July 24
