LAHORE: Pakistan cricket selectors have named six uncapped players in the 15-player squad for next week’s tour of Bangladesh for three ODIs, which will be played in Mirpur on 11, 13 and 15 March.

Abdul Samad, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Saad Masood, Sahibzada Farhan and Shamyl Hussain are the six players who have been selected in the Pakistan squad for the first time. Of the six, Samad, Maaz, Saad and Shamyl were part of the Pakistan Shaheens squad that played in the curtailed white-ball series against England Lions in Abu Dhabi.

The six players have replaced Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Haseebullah Khan, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Nawaz, who were part of the Pakistan squad that defeated Sri Lanka 3-0 in their previous ODI series in November 2025.

Shaheen Shah Afridi will continue to lead the ODI side, which also includes T20I captain Salman Ali Agha and former white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan.

While the inclusion of the six domestic performers is welcome news, Saad Baig will feel disappointed at missing out on selection despite being the most successful batter and wicketkeeper of the 2025-26 first-class season. In the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and President’s Trophy, he had aggregated 1,369 runs with the bat and accounted for 53 batters behind the wickets.

In contrast, the selectors have preferred Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, who was not part of the Shaheens’ squad in Abu Dhabi. Ghazi was the second most successful batter in the President’s Trophy, scoring 531 runs in seven matches. In wicketkeeping, he was sixth on the list with 20 dismissals (16 catches, four stumpings).

Pakistan squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Saad Masood, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha and Shamyl Hussain.

Series schedule:

11 Mar: 1st ODI, Mirpur

13 Mar: 2nd ODI, Mirpur

15 Mar: 3rd ODI, Mirpur