No Free Passes: If Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Naseem Shah are dropped, why aren't they playing Domestic Cricket?

[BouncerGuy]

Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Naseem Shah have been dropped from the T20I squad, and surprisingly, Babar is also absent from the ongoing Hanif Mohammad Trophy, even though his region, Lahore Blues, is in action.

Babar Azam:

PSL 2025: Showed strong form for Peshawar Zalmi, scoring 288 runs at a healthy strike rate of 128.57, including three fifties and a high score of 94.

ODI Series & Champions Trophy: Struggled for consistency against the West Indies and had a very poor Champions Trophy 2025, managing only 87 runs at a low strike rate of 75 as an opener.

Mohammad Rizwan:

Had a mixed ODI series against the West Indies, showing promise but failing to convert starts into big scores.

His main issue is his T20I strike rate (~129), which is seen as too slow for modern cricket. This has led to him being dropped from recent T20I squads.

Naseem Shah:

Had a disappointing Champions Trophy 2025, taking only 2 wickets at a high average of 50, which is well below par for a key bowler.

With their T20I spots on the line, shouldn’t these stars be grinding it out in domestic cricket to regain form and prove their worth? Time to hit the nets and show the selectors what they’re missing

 

[Rana]

Babar and Rizwan can do all for all I care. Just keep them away from the T20 squad

 

[RidiculousMan]

Babar is on standby incase he needs to replace a player in Asia Cup.

Rizwan and Naseem are playing CPL.

 

[Ball Blazer]

Agree. Time to get back to domestic

 

[Major]

A foreign league is better than grade 2 cricket.

While i agree they should play grade 2 cricket, but if you have a foreign league contract, than that is better than grade 2. More money, better exposure, and better quality players with better grounds.

Grade 2 cricket lacks facilities and is played on really bad grounds that can cause injuries.

However, since babar is not playing franchise, he should had played in grade 2

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Pakistan is the only country where you don’t have to perform to get back into the national team.

Babar and Rizwan are one step closer from returning to national team, unfortunately. With Haris not performing and questions over Fakhar at 3, I think they’ll be back pretty soon.

 

[Vikram1989]

I see two of them were playing in cpl, which is better than domestic league i believe.it should be fine as long as they play somewhere and try to improve.

 

[mominsaigol]

Pakistan is the only country where you don’t have to perform to get back into the national team.

Babar and Rizwan are one step closer from returning to national team, unfortunately. With Haris not performing and questions over Fakhar at 3, I think they’ll be back pretty soon.

What questions? Fakhar been avg 42 with a sr of 152 in the tri series? He's still Pakistan's best batter. Highest run scorer atm.

Dont listen to these agenda merchants. They don't understand cricket.

Haris at no 7 is a question mark 100%. But why isnt he batting at no 3?

 

[Sachin fan]

What questions? Fakhar been avg 42 with a sr of 152 in the tri series? He's still Pakistan's best batter. Highest run scorer atm.

Dont listen to these agenda merchants. They don't understand cricket.

Haris at no 7 is a question mark 100%. But why isnt he batting at no 3?

Come on, you are using the same logic Rizbar supporters used to blast them. Even in his good innings Fakhar started very slow and only hit at the end and it was against UAE. Both Rizbar used to do that and have similar averages and strike rate in many individual series.

Then the logic was that this style of cricket doesn't work most time and they only work against minnows etc.

It's funny to see you guys now use the average card to support Fakhar

 

[mominsaigol]

Come on, you are using the same logic Rizbar supporters used to blast them. Even in his good innings Fakhar started very slow and only hit at the end and it was against UAE. Both Rizbar used to do that and have similar averages and strike rate in many individual series.

Then the logic was that this style of cricket doesn't work most time and they only work against minnows etc.

It's funny to see you guys now use the average card to support Fakhar

I'm not using any logic. I have supported your arguments before, infact the slow starting argument you are using against me was mine to begin with.

Fakhar > Babar and rizwan. And Pakistan doesmt have replacements.

Fakhar being unsuited to t20 doesnt mean Pakistan cam afford to drop him

 

[YousafTheBeast]

What questions? Fakhar been avg 42 with a sr of 152 in the tri series? He's still Pakistan's best batter. Highest run scorer atm.

Dont listen to these agenda merchants. They don't understand cricket.

Haris at no 7 is a question mark 100%. But why isnt he batting at no 3?

Personally I would have Fakhar at 4, and Haris in at 3, but I reckon Agha wants to bat at 4 which is why we’re not seeing them change the line up.

The only solution then would be to see how Fakhar does as a lower order hitter, and Mo Haris can come in at 3.

 

[zahid01]

Babar is on standby incase he needs to replace a player in Asia Cup.

Rizwan and Naseem are playing CPL.

I for one won't be surprised if somehow he snakes himself into the asia cup squad it all depends on Sunday how we do against Afghanistan if we lose we may get an injured player all of sudden and in comes the king

 

[shamaan]

Come on, you are using the same logic Rizbar supporters used to blast them. Even in his good innings Fakhar started very slow and only hit at the end and it was against UAE. Both Rizbar used to do that and have similar averages and strike rate in many individual series.

Then the logic was that this style of cricket doesn't work most time and they only work against minnows etc.

It's funny to see you guys now use the average card to support Fakhar

When did babar bat at 3 ?

 

[AZulfi]

Yes, they should all play domestic cricket. esp. important with the upcoming Winter test series against South Africa.

Do we want to stay relevant in the WTC cycle or not?

Playing domestic cricket (esp FC) should be a prerequisite for all players who want to play Test and ODI cricket for Pakistan.

Those who only want to play T20Is may be given a pass, but then they should not expect to be selected in the above premier formats - period.

 

[Rana]

Yes, they should all play domestic cricket. esp. important with the upcoming Winter test series against South Africa.

Do we want to stay relevant in the WTC cycle or not?

Playing domestic cricket (esp FC) should be a prerequisite for all players who want to play Test and ODI cricket for Pakistan.

Those who only want to play T20Is may be given a pass, but then they should not expect to be selected in the above premier formats - period.

They are not playing domestic cricket because it’s their fans (including yourself) who have made it seem as if T20 is the prestige format.

They don’t care about red ball cricket.

 

[AZulfi]

They are not playing domestic cricket because it’s their fans (including yourself) who have made it seem as if T20 is the prestige format.

They don’t care about red ball cricket.

Again, making up stuff yourself

Where did I say that T20 is more important? I have always said test cricket is the real deal and that PCB should start prioritising it. I even said in another thread that central contracts should primarily be decided based on performance in tests.

Babar is a decent ODI but an average Test and T20I (owing to poor strike rotation) batsman

 

[Rana]

Again, making up stuff yourself

Where did I say that T20 is more important? I have always said test cricket is the real deal and that PCB should start prioritising it. I even said in another thread that central contracts should primarily be decided based on performance in tests.

Babar is a decent ODI but an average Test and T20I (owing to poor strike rotation) batsman

No one says anything directly. No one will openly say T20 is more important in Pakistan compared to Test. You are their fan that’s not me making anything up. You or others may not have said it, but advocating for those two lolls in this format and trying to adjust them somehow is also part of the issue. If you are truly their fan, and a fan of Pakistan cricket which is more important….what matters is to say it clearly that those two have NO BUSINESS playing or wanting to represent Pakistan in T20, and their entire focus should be on the longer formats.

You people will learn with time. Or time has its way of providing harsh lessons.

 

[Savak]

Its unfortunate that Pakistan's domestic season coincides with the T-20 leagues. Players have a short shelf life and limited number of playing years and no one in their right frame of mind will sacrifice easy big money in the leagues for paltry sums in domestic cricket, PCB should ideally be looking to find a way to hold our domestic tournaments during the time periods when our players are free from international and T-20 commitments which is why i supported the Champions Cup concept which the PCB planned to host in the month of May to August, the PCB needs to hold the domestic tournaments in the coolest areas of Pakistan at that time.

This is the only reasonable solution and way where we can have domestic cricket in Pakistan where all the major domestic and international players will play all the games.