Salman Agha captain, Babar Azam Mohammad Rizwan dropped, Shadab vice-captain Pakistan rejig T20I squad New Zealand tour
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There are fewer changes in the bowling department, with the make-up roughly the same as it was for Pakistan’s recent T20I series in South Africa. Naseem Shah, who last played T20Is against Australia in November, remains absent while Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf are part of the squad. Spinners Sufiyaan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed retain their places, while Khushdil Shah comes into the side.
It brings to an end an unhappy, if brief, stint as T20I captain for Rizwan. He led Pakistan as full-time captain in just five completed T20Is, losing all of them. He was absent for the three T20Is in Zimbabwe, with Agha leading the team as Pakistan won 2-1.
Babar’s absence, too, suggests Pakistan are once more trying to break free of the Babar-Rizwan combination at the top of the order. The duo up top have polarised opinion almost as soon as the combination was set up in 2020. Critics have panned them for being too-risk averse at the start of the innings, but their reliability and consistency of run accumulation, set in contrast against an oft-misfiring middle order, has seen Pakistan continue to return to them.
The ODI squad doesn’t include such drastic changes, except for the omission of Shaheen. He was Pakistan’s best bowler in their ODI series wins in South Africa and Australia. Rizwan retains the ODI captaincy and Babar is in the squad, while Abdullah Shafique returns after being dropped for the Champions Trophy. Left-arm quick Akif Javed earns a maiden ODI squad selection while Sufiyaan Muqeem returns as well.
Pakistan play five T20Is in New Zealand starting March 16, followed by three ODIs.
Pakistan T20I squad: Hassan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris Abdal Samad, Salman AGHA (CAPT), Irfan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan Abbas Africa, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Africidi, Haris RAUF, SUFIYAAN MUQEEM, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan
Pakistan ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (CAPT), Salman AGHA, abdullah shafique, abarar ahmed, akif javid, babar azam, faehaem Ashraf, imam-u-haq, khushdil shah, mohammad Ali, mohammad wasim jnr, Irfan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Suffiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir.
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