New Zealand cricket team arrive in Islamabad

Islamabad: New Zealand cricket team arrived in Islamabad this morning to play a five-match T20I series.

Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed the arrival in a statement.

The series will be played from Thursday till 27th of this month in Rawalpindi and Lahore.

Earlier, Pakistan Cricket Board announced a seventeen member squad for the five T20 international matches home series against New Zealand, starting from 18th of this month.

According to the Selectors Wahab Riaz and Muhammad Yousuf, the team will be lead by Babar Azam while remaining squad is comprised of Abrar Ahmad, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmad, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Amir, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan and Zaman Khan.

Five reserve players for the series are Haseebullah Khan, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Wasim Junior, Sahibzada Farhan and Salman Ali Agha.

Wahab Riaz said that the squad marks the comeback of Muhammad Amir and Imad Wasim, who both reversed their retirement decision recently.

He said that the series is very important to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Muhammad Yousuf said that Usman Khan and Irfan Khan have made their place in the squad on the basis of their performance.

The five T20 matches will be played in Rawalpindi and Lahore from 18th to 27th of this month.