Revealed: Why Is Babar Azam Not Playing in National Champions Cup 2026?

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is organising the first-ever National Champions Cup, in which four teams have been formed from a group of players who could be in contention for the ICC World Cup 2027. The National Champions Cup 2026 will begin on August 11, 2026, and with seven continuous days of cricket, it will end on August 18, 2026.

The management has been taking this National Champions Cup 2026 quite seriously, with Mike Hesson, white-ball head coach of the Pakistan Cricket Team, personally looking after this cup for the betterment of the 50-over team. However, fans have observed that there is no Babar Azam in National Champions Cup 2026. Let's find out the reason behind Babar Azam's absence from the National Champions Cup 2026.

Why Is Babar Azam Not Playing in National Champions Cup 2026?

Babar Azam, one of the best ODI batsman in the world, will not be playing in the National Champions Cup 2026 because he is part of the Pakistan test squad, which is currently on a tour to England for a 3-match test series. The ENG vs PAK test series will begin on August 19, 2026, when the final match of the National Champions Cup 2026 will be played, so scheduling of both tournaments didn't allow him to feature in both.

However, Babar is also prioritising red-ball cricket, where he is leading the Pakistan Test team. Recently, he led the team to win a match against West Indies and draw the series. The skipper is also looking forward to trying hard for the betterment of the team in the World Test Championship 2025-27. On the other hand, he is also a core player of the Pakistan ODI team, which allows him to leave playing the National Champions Cup 2026 and focus on Test cricket.

When Did Babar Azam Play His Last ODI Match?

Babar Azam last played an ODI on June 4, 2026, against Australia at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. Babar played an important role in the batting lineup and scored 40 runs off 84 balls and 69 and 14 runs in earlier games of the series. The Pakistan star has played 143 ODIs so far and scored 6,626 runs at an impressive average of 53.43. He also has 20 ODI centuries to his name, making him one of Pakistan’s most successful batters in the 50-over format.