No Shaheen Afridi as Pakistan back youth for Bangladesh T20Is

Pakistan have announced a 16-member squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, with Salman Ali Agha retaining the captaincy. 

Continuing its recent trend of investing in emerging players, the PCB has chosen to rest several senior stars.

As a result, key names like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi have been left out of the squad. Notably, both Babar and Rizwan have not featured in a T20I since December 2024.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) stated that the squad selection was largely influenced by players' performances in the ongoing HBL PSL X, which concludes on 25 May.

This series will also serve as the first assignment for newly appointed head coach Mike Hesson. 

The matches will all be held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, though the exact schedule is yet to be revealed.

Originally scheduled as a five-match series, Bangladesh's tour has now been trimmed to three games. 

Squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicket-keeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub