Babar Azam’s non-selection for Bangladesh ODI series raised QUESTIONS, confusion over…

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam was left out of squad for the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh which Shaheen Shah Afridi’s team lost 2-1 on Sunday.

Confusion has prevailed in Pakistan cricket once again over the exact reasons behind Babar Azam’s exclusion from the three-match ODI series in Bangladesh, which the visitors lost 1-2 with a narrow defeat in final match on Sunday. The confusion has been created by one of the selectors, head coach Mike Hesson and Babar himself, amid the debate if the former captain and star batter should have been excluded form the tour or not.

The PCB initially announced the squad for the Bangladesh tour without mentioning if Babar and some other seniors were dropped or rested. Last Saturday, senior selector Aaqib Javed told the media that the selectors were conveyed that Babar and Fakhar Zaman were injured after the T20 World Cup.

“It is a surprise for us and we have asked the PCB to probe into the matter and find out how they got injured after the World Cup and whether they played in the tournament fully fit or not,” Javed said.

BABAR AZAM COOK PAKISTAN SELECTORS
Pakistani Selectors – Babar Azam was not fit for the Bangladesh series due to injury and his current health condition didn’t allow him.
After which Babar posted this on his Insta story. pic.twitter.com/FlJSyQaFzx
— Noor Ahmad Nation (@kohinor_7) March 15, 2026

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However, a day later, Babar posted pictures of himself on social media in which he appeared to be sarcastically questioning Javed’s take on his fitness. Later in the day after Pakistan lost the third and final ODI in Dhaka, head coach Mike Hesson came out with a new version saying Pakistan had rested senior players including Babar to give a chance to youngsters.

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam has scored 6501 runs in 140 ODI games at an average of 53.72 with 20 hundreds and 37 fifties at a strike-rate of 87. Both Babar and Fakhar Zam were dropped from the ODI team following Pakistan’s failure to qualify for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2026 last month.

Pakistan took four uncapped rookies for the ODI series including Maaz Sadaqat, Shamyl Hussain, Ghazi Ghori and Saad Masood while Sahibzada Farhan and Abdul Samad also made their ODI debuts in the series. The team management tried out all four rookies in the series besides Farhan and Samad, and Hesson expressed satisfaction over the performance of the new faces insisting they had shown that they could stay in international cricket.

A few former Pakistan players and even fans on social media have now urged the PCB to explain the rationale behind Babar’s exclusion. A few former players have even blamed Javed, also the head of the high performance centre, for having a personal grouse with Babar.