National Selector and Director High Performance Center Aqib Javed, while answering questions from journalists during the announcement of the Asia Cup squad, said that the doors of the T20 format have not been closed forever for Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan, and that any player who performs can return to the team.

He said that only those who perform will play in the national team. We never said that Babar and Rizwan will never return to the T20 squad. There can be no full stop on the inclusion of any player.

Also Read: Pakistan announce squad for Asia Cup, UAE T20I Tri-Series

He said that if Babar and Rizwan perform as well as other players are performing, they will definitely play T20 as well. Discussions were held with both of them and guidelines were given to them to improve some of their things.

It should be noted that the squad for the Asia Cup and Tri-Nation Series was announced today, however, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were not included in the squad.

The 17-member squad of the national team has once again been led by Salman Ali Agha, while Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub, Khushdil Shah and Hussain Talat have been included in the team.

Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Wasim Jr., Muhammad Haris and leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed have also been given a chance in the team. Faheem Ashraf, Hassan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Mirza and young player Sufyan Muqeem will also be part of the squad.

The tri-nation T20 series between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be played in Sharjah from August 29 to September 7.

Immediately following this series, the Asia Cup will be held in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from September 9 to September 28, featuring all the major teams in the region in action.