Pakistan coach Mike Hesson says excluding Babar Azam, Saim Ayub is about building for 2027 ODI World Cup
3 min readUpdated: Mar 9, 2026 10:20 PM IST Days after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made a bold move by dropping big names like Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, and Naseem Shah from the ODI series against Bangladesh, Pakistan’s white-ball coach Mike Hesson said that the exclusion of these senior players should not be considered as punishment for non-performance in the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. “I wouldn’t say anyone was dropped. We just see this series as an opportunity to give these promising players a chance to prove themselves,” Hesson was quoted as saying by PTI. Hesson insisted that Pakistan have had scant opportunities to test young, promising talent. He said with the ODI World Cup scheduled for next year, they wanted to see how these players respond. “Sahabzada Farhan has forced himself into the ODI squad because of his exceptional performances in T20s, and young players like Shamyl Hussain or Maaz Sadaqat have been doing well in domestic cricket and junior sides. The series will …
