ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan left out Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan for an upcoming triangular series and the Asia Cup as it named a 17-member squad on Sunday for the two T20 tournaments in the United Arab Emirates. Neither batter has featured in a T20 international since playing against South Africa in December 2024 with Pakistan instead giving chances to batters Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman, who can score quickly. Head coach Mike Hesson told reporters that Babar was asked to improve "in some areas" that included his vulnerability against spinners and his strike rate. Babar is due to play for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League later this year and Hesson said the batter was working hard to be in contention for next year's T20 World Cup. Since Hesson took over as the white-ball coach, Pakistan won two bilateral T20 series against Bangladesh and West Indies, but also lost another to Bangladesh 2-1 in Bangladesh. West Indies also recorded its first bilateral ODI series win against Pakistan in 34 years when it won 2-1, with Babar scoring 47, 0 and 9. "At the moment, the players that we have, (they) have performed exceptionally well," Hesson said in reference to Farhan, Ayub and Zaman. "But certainly a player like Barbar has an opportunity to play in the BBL and start to show that he's improving in those areas in T20s. He's too good a player for us not to consider." Pakistan, Afghanistan and UAE will compete in the triangular series at Sharjah in between Aug. 29 and Sept. 7 before Dubai and Abu Dhabi host the Asia Cup from Sept. 9 to Sept. 28. Hesson was happy with Pakistan's preparations for the two tournaments by winning six of the nine T20 games under him and was also impressed with the performance of new fast bowler Salman Mirza in Bangladesh — especially in the death overs. Mirza and fellow pace bowler Mohammad Wasim have been included in the squad for both tournaments. "From a T20 perspective, this side is traveling quite nicely," Hesson said. "We've also been able to provide some different opportunities for different players during those tours and that's the only way we're going to create depth. "Whereas, if we continued to play the same team, all the time, we wouldn't be able to create depth. It's always a fine line in terms of trying to win every single game and also making sure that you peak for pinnacle events like the Asia Cup." ___ Squad: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed. ___ AP cricket:https://apnews.com/hub/cricket