The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday, announced the highly-anticipated squad for the tri-nation series and ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, featuring only one specialist opener, Fakhar Zaman.

Fakhar, who returned to the ODI team after the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, faces the void as his fellow opener Saim Ayub missed out on the selection due to an ankle injury, while Abdullah Shafique failed to make a cut, owing to his recent below-par performances.

Meanwhile, national selector Asad Shafiq, in a PCB-released statement, addressed the concern and revealed star batter Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel as Fakhar’s potential opening partners for the eight-team tournament.

Shafiq further shared that Fakhar’s opening partner will be selected after analysing various factors including conditions, opposition and match strategy.

“Fakhar Zaman’s return is a significant boost for our top-order. His aggressive approach and match-winning capabilities are vital to our plans,” said Shafiq.

“Likewise, Saud Shakeel has been drafted to further bolster the batting and capitalise on his rich vein of form in Test cricket, particularly in home conditions. Moreover, he is an experienced, intelligent and calculated batter who constructs his innings thoughtfully and excels at building partnerships.

“Fakhar’s opening partner could be either Babar Azam or Saud Shakeel, depending on various factors such as conditions, opposition and match strategy. Both players are highly capable at the top of the order, with Babar being particularly seasoned in the role, regularly opening in T20Is and also excelling in the Cape Town Test by scoring two half-centuries in Saim Ayub’s absence.”

Pakistan squad for tri-nation series and Champions Trophy 2025:

Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha (vc), Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi.