Among the six cricketers who got a place in the team, the most talked about name is Sahibzada Farhan. He was the highest run scorer for Pakistan in the World Cup. His chances of ODI debut are bright. Apart from this, Abdul Samad, Mayaz Sadakat, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori, Saad Masood and Shamil Hussain have also joined the team. All of them played for Pakistan Shaheens against England Lions. The addition of Ghazi Ghori adds another wicketkeeping option to the squad alongside Mohammad Rizwan.

Not only Babar and Ayub, some other veteran cricketers who played against Sri Lanka in 2025 have also been left out. Fakhar Zaman, Hasibullah, Mohammad Nawaz and pacer Naseem Shah are not in this team. However, Shaheen Shah Afridi remains in charge as the captain. Abrar Ahmed, Fahim Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Harris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Wasim Jr and Salman Ali Agha retained their places.

Babar Azam’s exclusion is being talked about among the many cricketers who have been dropped. He was once the trust of the team in all formats. But he came under criticism due to his poor form in the T20 World Cup. Although ODIs are regarded as his best format and he also scored a century in the series against Sri Lanka, the confidence of the selectors has been lacking.

According to analysts, if Babar doesn’t perform well in domestic cricket, tough time awaits him. Saim Ayub, on the other hand, will also be disappointed, as he averages 46.94 in ODIs and has a strike rate of 100—which is good enough. Now it is to be seen how this new team performs in the tour of Bangladesh.