CRICKET
Asia Cup 2025 is set to begin on September 9, and several teams are yet to announce their 15-member squad for the tournament. Several media reports suggest that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is considering dropping their star players, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
Pakistan's star players, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, are struggling with poor form in recent months. Recently, their team was crushed by the West Indies and even lost the ODI series for the first time in 34 years. This loss has raised eyebrows of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), who might take a tough call for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. The PCB is yet to announce Pakistan's squad for the Asia Cup 2025, which is scheduled to commence on September 9 in the UAE.
As per a report by ABP, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan might not be named in the 15-member squad for the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup due to their poor form. Babar has also not played an international T20 game since December last year. Not only this, his PSL 2025 campaign was also not impressive as he managed to score just 288 runs in 10 innings.
On the other hand, Rizwan has also had a bad recent month in terms of his batting performance. Moreover, if he gets dropped for the upcoming tournament, Salman Ali Agha is more likely to be given the captaincy duty.
Meanwhile, the Asia Cup 2025 is set to begin on September 9 with the Afghanistan vs Hong Kong game. Team India will play its first match in the tournament against the host UAE on September 10. Pakistan will begin its campaign against Oman on September 12. The highly anticipated clash between India and Pakistan is scheduled to take place on September 14 at the Dubai International Stadium.