Wahab Riaz, the chief selector for Pakistan’s men’s team, has named a 17-man team for the five-match Twenty20 International series against New Zealand, which begins in Auckland on January 12.
Mohammad Haris has been rested for the series, Riaz revealed during a news conference in Lahore, highlighting the management’s understanding of his qualities and involvement in future plans.
“Muhammad Haris has been rested for this series.” We are aware of his potential, and he will be included in our future plans. We rested Haris from this tour because we wanted to expand our pool of players and offer a chance to certain domestic talents in First Class cricket,” Wahab explained.
Riaz emphasized the importance of spinner Shadab Khan to Pakistan’s Twenty20 cricket team. Regretfully, Khan needed an extra two weeks of recovery after suffering an ankle injury during the National T20.
“One of the key players for Pakistan in T20 cricket is Shadab Khan. Regretfully, he sustained an ankle injury at the National T20 and needs two more weeks of physical therapy. He’ll be free to bowl after that, Wahab stated.
In his discussion of the middle order selection process, Wahab emphasized the importance of developing players for positions four through seven. He emphasized Haseebullah’s PSL and white-ball cricket accomplishments, highlighting his noteworthy innings.
“Haseebullah has excelled in white ball cricket and has played some significant middle-order roles in the PSL. He bats first in domestic cricket, but we need to develop guys for positions four through seven in order to adjust as a team. “We’re in a building phase to see which players can fit into these positions. Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, and Faheem Ashraf were given chances, but they couldn’t create that type of impact,” he continued.
Pakistan squad: Shaheen Afridi (c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Haseebullah Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan
Three wicketkeepers in Pakistan’s T20I squad for New Zealand series#NZvPAK pic.twitter.com/SBV00CkHyk
— Cricket Pakistan (@cricketpakcompk) December 19, 2023
The training camp is scheduled to commence at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore on December 28 and will conclude on January 3rd.
Pakistan tour of New Zealand
January 12: New Zealand vs Pakistan – First T20I in Auckland
January 14: New Zealand vs Pakistan – Second T20I in Hamilton
January 17: New Zealand vs Pakistan – Third T20I in Dunedin
January 19: New Zealand vs Pakistan – Fourth T20I in Christchurch
January 21: New Zealand vs Pakistan – Fifth T20I in Christchurch
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