Pakistan on Sunday left out seasoned batters Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan while announcing their 17-member squad for the Asia Cup and the preceding tri-series in the UAE later this month. Babar and Rizwan, who helped Pakistan to their first-ever win over India in an ICC tournament in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE, have been away from the format for a while. Both last featured in the shortest format in December 2024.

Placed in Group ‘A’

Pakistan are placed alongside arch-rivals India in Group ‘A’, which also features the UAE and Oman, in the eight-team Asia Cup tournament that will conclude on September 28. In the lead-up to the Asia Cup, which will be played in T20 format in the UAE from September 9, the Salman Ali Agha-led side will play a tri-series against Afghanistan and hosts UAE at Sharjah from August 29 to September 7.