Why Pakistan dropped Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi for Sri Lanka T20Is weeks before T20 World Cup

With Pakistan scheduled to play all their World Cup matches in Sri Lanka, the three-match series against the Islanders was expected to serve as an ideal warm-up for the ICC tournament, a title Pakistan have failed to reclaim since their maiden triumph in 2009. The T20Is will be played from January 7 to January 11, exactly a month before Pakistan open their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on February 10.

PCB opted to leave out several high-profile names, including Babar, Shaheen, Mohammed Rizwan and Haris Rauf. In their absence, uncapped batter Khawaja Nafay earned a call-up following a successful stint in the most recent Abu Dhabi T10, where he scored 178 runs at a strike rate of 243.83.

The primary reason behind the absence of Babar, Shaheen, Rizwan and Rauf, along with Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan, is their participation in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL). Although PCB were initially reluctant to grant No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for the Australia-based franchise league due to the Sri Lanka tour, they eventually gave the green light in October.