KARACHI: Many cricket fans are left astounded by the Champions Trophy 2025 squad selection, wondering why several key players were ruled out and Faheem Ashraf surprisingly secured a spot.

The highly anticipated team announcement for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the tri-nation series between South Africa, New Zealand, and Pakistan was made by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday.

Four changes have been made in the 15-player squad that last played an ODI series in South Africa late last year.

Abdullah Shafique, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub and Sufyan Moqim have been replaced by Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khushdil Shah and Saud Shakeel.

The squad, to be captained by Mohammad Rizwan with Salman Ali Agha as vice-captain, includes three members from the 2017 title-winning side — Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf and Fakhar Zaman.

Sources told Geo News that Imam-ul-Haq was ruled out from squad over his fitness woes and indiscipline. Imam, who captained Pakistan Shaheens against West Indies XI recently, went to Lahore on the last day of the three-day match with permission from the cricket board.

They said the selection committee kept him in the Test squad despite his abandoning the match midway. However, the selection committee did not give him a chance to play the Champions Trophy over his fitness.

The reason behind axing Test skipper Shan Masood has been given his not bowling during a match, as per the sources. Whereas, they added, inconsistency in Aamer Jamal’s performance has paved the way for Faheem’s inclusion.

On the other hand, Sajid Khan has been left out for his inexperience in white ball international cricket, while Saud made it to the team for his performance in Asia conditions, the sources maintained.

Meanwhile, former skipper Wasim Akram has taken the selection committee to task for Champions Trophy team selection, questioning about performance of the likes of Faheem and Khushdil in the recent past.