Captain Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam have been dropped from the Pakistan squad for the upcoming five-match T20 series in New Zealand. Salman Ali Agha will take over as T20 captain, with Shadab Khan as vice-captain. Rizwan remains captain of the ODI squad, which hasn’t undergone major changes despite recent failures in the Champions Trophy; Babar is also included, while Saud Shakil and Kamran Ghulam have been excluded. Key fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf are sidelined. Opener Saim Ayub is injured, and Fakhar Zaman is ruled out due to injury. Pakistan’s tour starts March 16.
On Tuesday, Captain Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam were removed from the Pakistan squad for the upcoming five-match T20 series in New Zealand. Salman Ali Agha has taken over as captain of the T20 team, with all-rounder Shadab Khan recalled and appointed as his vice-captain. Rizwan has retained his role as captain of the ODI squad following the team’s lackluster performance in the Champions Trophy. The selectors have opted to keep most of the players who underperformed in the ongoing ICC event, avoiding a major overhaul in the one-day squad. Babar has also been retained in the ODI lineup, while batters Saud Shakil and Kamran Ghulam have been dropped. Additionally, fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf have been excluded from the one-day squad. Pakistan is set to play five T20s and three ODIs in New Zealand, starting from March 16.
The team will still be without the dynamic opener Saim Ayub, who is yet to recover from an ankle injury, and opener Fakhar Zaman has also been ruled out of the tour due to an injury he sustained during the first match of the Champions Trophy.
Fakhar’s injury occurred after he made his return to the Pakistan squad last month during the three-nation event, while Saim picked up his injury while fielding in the Test series in South Africa earlier this year.
Pakistan squads:
ODI: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha (VC), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam ul Haq, Khushdil Shah, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Wasim junior, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sufyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir.
T20: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (VC), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Jahandad Khan, Khushdil Shah, Muhammad Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Haris, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Muqeem, Usman Khan.
Topics mentioned in this article