Pakistani squad: Chief selector Wahab Riaz unveiled the lineup on Tuesday for the five-match Twenty20 International series against New Zealand that will take place next month.
After Babar Azam’s retirement, pacer Shaheen Afridi will take charge of the T20I squad for the first time.
Young players Saim Ayub, Abbas Afridi, Haseebullah Khan, and Sahibzada Farhan are among the 17-man roster.
Along with Azam Khan, who is a destructive batter, the team also includes players like Muhammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, and Fakhar Zaman.
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“Haseebullah is an excellent white-ball cricket player and has played several significant middle-order innings in the PSL. He starts in domestic cricket, but we need to develop players for positions four and seven so that as a squad we can respond,” Riaz stated.
“Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, and Faheem Ashraf were given chances, but they couldn’t create that type of impact, so now we’re in a building phase to see which players can fit into these positions.”
In addition, Riaz disclosed that all-rounder Shadab Khan had been injured and wicketkeeper Mohammad Haris had been left out.
Pakistani squad for New Zealand T20I Series
Muhammad Haris has been given a break for this series. We will include him in our future plans since we see his potential. We rested Haris for this tour because we wanted to expand our player pool and give some domestic cricket players a shot at first-class cricket,” he stated.
Shadab Khan is an essential component of Pakistan’s T20 cricket team. Sadly, he injured his ankle [at the National T20], and he will need to spend an extra two weeks in physical therapy. After that, he can go bowling.
The schedule for Pakistan’s 2024 tour of New Zealand
- First game: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 12 January, Auckland
- Second game: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 14 January, Hamilton
- Third game: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 17 January, Dunedin
- Fourth game: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 19 January, Christchurch
- Fifth match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 21 January, Christchurch
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