Babar Azam and Naseem Shah withdraw from National T20 Cup

The Champions Trophy has come to an end and now the T20 fever has started while the Indian fans are waiting for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), those Pakistan players are also getting ready for the upcoming National T20 Cup before the Pakistan Super League commences. The T20 Cup will start on March 14 and will feature some senior and upcoming players from the Men in Green.

The tournament will have 20 teams which have been divided into four groups and were set to have some big players in the form of Pakistan star batter Babar Azam and right-arm pacer Naseem Shah. However, turns out that the two the star duo will not be available for the tournament due to a packed international schedule. This was also supposed to be a chance to prove their worth in the shortest format since they have been dropped from the T20I squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand.

The last T20I game Babar played was in December 2024 and though he has a great record in the format he has failed to achieve a half-century score in the last 11 matches he has played. On the other hand, Naseem Shah has also been giving average performances in the format, where he has only managed to take 10 wickets in the last 10 games he has played.

Also Read: Wahab Riaz withdraws from upcoming National T20 Cup amidst criticism from fans

PAK's horrible Champions Trophy campaign 

The two were also part of the 2025 Champions Trophy which was hosted by Pakistan and UAE and the two could not live up to the expectations of the fans. Babar could only manage one sluggish half-century against New Zealand while got out cheaply against arch-rivals India. The couple of losses meant that Pakistan were kicked out of the competition, and their consolation game against Bangladesh was also washed out due to rain, as they finished last in the Group A of the elite tournament.

Speaking of Naseem, he could not make an impact in the tournament as well where he only took two wickets in the couple of games he played with an economy of 5.55 and a high average of 50 with the best figures of 2/63.