India, Sept. 12 -- Salman Ali Agha's Pakistan will open their Asia Cup 2025 campaign against Oman on Friday at the Dubai International Stadium, and all the chatter leading into the contest is the absence of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the main squad. The two senior Pakistan batters have not played a T20I for almost six months, and the new young team has performed reasonably well. However, a certain section continues to ask for the selection of the duo, and hence it is no surprise that a reporter asked about Babar and Rizwan when white-ball coach Mike Hesson came to attend the pre-match press conference.

When Pakistan's Asia Cup squad was announced, Hesson was quite candid in admitting that Babar and Rizwan's strike rate has been ...