The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the 15-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and Saeem Ayub is out of the squad.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the 15-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Wicketkeeper Muhammad Rizwan will be the captain of the team while Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain). The mega event will be played in Pakistan from February 19 to March 9. The Pakistani squad will assemble in Lahore on Monday for the Champions Trophy.
The same Pakistan squad will also play a three-match ODI series in Karachi and Lahore before the Champions Trophy, which will also include teams from New Zealand and South Africa.
Four changes have been made to Pakistan’s 15-man squad, with Fakhar Zaman, Khush Dil Shah, Saud Shakeel and Faheem Ashraf being added to the squad. Faheem Ashraf, Fakhr Zaman, Khush Dil Shah and Saud Shakeel have been included in the Pakistan squad in place of Abdullah Shafiq, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Saeem Ayub and Sufian Muqim.
Pakistan’s 15-member squad
Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir have been included in the batsmen while Faheem Ashraf, Khush Dil Shah, Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain) have been included in the all-rounders. Wicketkeeper batsmen Muhammad Rizwan (captain) and Usman Khan while sniper Abrar Ahmed will also be part of the squad. The list of fast bowlers includes Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Fakhar Zaman, who scored a century against India in the final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, has returned to the team. According to the PCB, he was ruled out of international cricket from June 2024 due to illness and injury. He performed well during the Champions T20 Cup 2024 in December, scoring 303 runs at a strike rate of over 132.
Fakhar Zaman has scored 3 thousand 492 runs in 82 ODI matches with the help of 11 centuries and 16 fifties at an average of 46.50 and a strike rate of 93.40.
Saeem Ayub is not part of the squad due to an ankle injury
Asad Shafiq, a member of the national selection committee, said that “Saim Ayub has not been included in the squad due to an ankle injury.” He says that we are hopeful for the speedy recovery of Saim Ayub. We understand how painful it will be for a batsman with exceptional batting form to miss out on the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
He is a valuable asset to our team, so we are committed to prioritizing his health rather than making any hasty decisions.” It should be noted that the PCB has until February 11 to make changes in the squad after which changes will be allowed only on medical grounds with the approval of the ICC Event Technical Committee.