Pakistan’s squad announced for New Zealand tour

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday announced the 17-member squad for the upcoming New Zealand tour.

Pakistan is scheduled to play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand commencing from 12 January 2024 from Auckland to 21 January 2024.

The announcement of the squad was made by Chief Selector Wahab Riaz along with cricketer Kamran Akmal, who is also a consultant to him.

Riaz said allrounder Shadab Khan was unavailable due to an injury, while wicketkeeper Muhammad Haris has also been asked to rest.

The Pakistan squad will be led by captain Shaheen Shah Afridi. This will be first test of his captaincy after Babar Azam’s resignation as captain from all formats.

Read more: Shadab Khan might pay the price for “poor performance”

Other players include Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Zaman Khan, Aamir Jamal, Azam Khan (wk), Sahibzada Farhan.

While, three players Abrar Ahmed, Haseebullah Khan and Abbas Afridi have earned their maiden call-up for the T20I squad.

Earlier, an inside report added that the selectors wanted to drop Mohammad Rizwan and select Azam Khan instead but both players have been picked on Mohammad Hafeez’s recommendation.