Pakistan unveils squad for upcoming New Zealand tour

Lahore: Pakistan Chief Selector Wahab Riaz on Tuesday unveiled the 17-member squad for upcoming New Zealand tourWahab Riaz addressed a press conference and made the announcement of the squad.

He said Mohammad Haris would be rested for the series, underlining the management's recognition of his abilities and his integral role in future plans. He expressed confidence in Haris, saying that “We have rested Mohammad Haris for this series,”.

He said they are fully aware of his capability, and he is part of their plans, pointing out that he is one of the best performers and they just wanted to give them an opportunity.

Talking about Shadab Khan, Riaz stated that Shadab  unfortunately got injured during the National T20 and he might need additional two weeks of rehabilitation.

“Shadab Khan is an important member of Pakistan T20 cricket. But unfortunately his ankle got injured , so he may need more two weeks for rehabilitation,” said the chief selector.

After that, he said, Shadab Khan would be available.

Wahab emphasized the imperative to nurture players for positions four to seven, highlighting the noteworthy performances of Haseebullah in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and white-ball cricket.

He said, “Haseebullah played some impactful innings in the PSL in the middle order and has performed well in white-ball cricket. Despite being an opener in domestic cricket, for team balance, we need to develop players for numbers four to seven,”.

He also stated that the players like  Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, and Faheem Ashraf were given opportunities, but they couldn't create the desired impact.  He acknowledged that they were still in a building phase to identify the players who could fill the crucial roles.

🚨 Pakistan's squad for New Zealand T20Is 🚨#NZvPAK pic.twitter.com/1PcWujVWeO

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 19, 2023

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, and Zaman Khan.