The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named the team for the T20 series against New Zealand on Tuesday. The series is set to start in January of next year. Once Shaheen Afridi takes over from Babar Azam, he will be in charge of the T20I team for the first time. Young players like Abbas Afridi, Saim Ayub, Haseebullah Khan, and Sahibzada Farhan are also on the 17-person team. Along with Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan, Azam Khan is a destructive hitter who is also on the team.The Pakistan cricket team is in Australia right now playing a three-match Test series as part of the 2023–25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, which ends on January 7.
New Zealand T20 series: Pakistan squad confirmed
Shaheen is one of the best bowlers in the world, especially with the new ball. His first job as captain will be to play against the team that came in second place at the 2021 T20 World Cup. At the news conference, Riaz said, “Haseebullah has played a lot of white-ball cricket and had some important innings in the PSL as a middle-order batsman.”
In domestic cricket, he bats first, but we need to find players for numbers 4 through 7 so that the team can change. “Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, 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.”
Riaz also said that wicketkeeper Mohammad Haris would not be playing and that all-rounder Shadab Khan would be hurt. “Mohammad Haris has been given a break for this series.” We’re aware of what he can do and have plans for him going forward. “We wanted to give some good First Class cricket players from our own country a chance and build up our team, so we rested Haris for this tour,” he said.
Shadab Khan is an important part of the Pakistan T20 league.” Sadly, he hurt his ankle in the National T20 and needs to continue training for two more weeks. After that, he’ll be free to bowl.”
Squad
Shaheen Afridi (c), Aamir Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan (wk), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed. Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mojammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir, Zaman Khan.
Schedule of Pakistan’s 2024 tour to New Zealand
- First match:Â New Zealand vs Pakistan, 12 January, Auckland
- Second match:Â New Zealand vs Pakistan, 14 January, Hamilton
- Third match:Â New Zealand vs Pakistan, 17 January, Dunedin
- Fourth match:Â New Zealand vs Pakistan, 19 January, Christchurch
- Fifth match:Â New Zealand vs Pakistan, 21 January, Christchurch.
