Babar Azam officially quits cricket! Shocking reason revealed

Pakistan will travel to Bangladesh to play the ODI series without Babar Azam and several other senior cricketers. The exclusion of Babar came right after Pakistan’s heartbroken run in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2026. During the tournament, the right-handed batter was far from the best.

It was believed that the Mohsin Naqvi-led Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) axed the ace batter due to his poor form. Media reports from Pakistan present a different story. It was reported that the batter himself opted to keep himself out of the limited-overs international assignments to revive his old batting form.

Babar Azam himself decided to take a break from cricket: Report

According to Geo News, Babar Azam himself decided to take a break from cricket on the advice of the national cricket team management. He will utilize the break to rehearse his batting through practice sessions and drills. The decision is considered a good move as the 31-year-old needs to revive his form badly, to maintain his status in the highest order of the game.

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The report further claimed that Babar Azam is actually not dropped from the ODI squad for the Bangladesh series, but he chose to stay away from the contest. It is claimed that he won't be playing the National T20 Cup either. The experienced batter is expected to feature in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) next.

Pakistan national cricket team coach explained why Babar is not with the team

The ODI series between Bangladesh and Pakistan is all set to start from today (March 11). Ahead of the first of the three-match ODI series, the head coach of the Pakistan National Cricket team, Mike Hesson, explained why Babar Azam was not selected for the series.

According to the coach, no one is particularly dropped. The board and the management see the matches against Bangladesh as a platform to test out some of their young talents.

“I don't think anyone particularly was dropped. I think, as I said, it's a great opportunity for us to look at some younger talent”, Mike Hesson said in the pre-match press conference.

PCB named six uncapped players for the ODI series. Sahibzada Farhan, Abdul Samad, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Saad Masood, and Shamyl Hussain are currently in Bangladesh with the Pakistan National Cricket Team.

Hesson said that they got very limited windows to try their bench strength, and the players who performed well in recent times, including in domestic cricket. Sahibzada Farhan is one of the batters who performed with consistency in the T20 World Cup 2026.

Pakistan to try out some new faces vs Bangladesh

“We get very few opportunities in the calendar to give a number of promising players opportunities. You're either heading into a pinnacle event or just leading into it, so it depends on how many players debut here”, the coach stated.

Shaheen Afridi also echoed the same sentiments, stating that Babar Azam has not been dropped; instead, they just want to give a chance to youngsters.

"Look, no one is dropped for this series," Shaheen said when asked about Babar. "We just want to give opportunities to our youngsters because they are our future and we wanted to give them the opportunity against Bangladesh.

"When the time comes, they will know their roles and what is coming in the future and we just need to prepare our team for the World Cup, and this is a good opportunity for the youngsters to go out and show their skills.

Read More: Gautam Gambhir praised as ex-England star blasts Babar Azam and Pakistan’s ‘personal milestones’ obsession