Salman Agha captain, Babar Azam Mohammad Rizwan dropped, Shadab vice-captain Pakistan rejig T20I squad New Zealand tour
Pakistan have shuffled the deck chairs once more in an attempt to find the right T20 combination, dropping captain Mohammad Rizwan as well as Babar Azam for the five-match series in New Zealand. In the first squad announced since Pakistan’s ignominious exit from a home Champions Trophy, there are several changes, including the return of Shadab Khan – also appointed vice-captain, and the awarding of the captaincy to Rizwan’s vice-captain Salman Agha.
Mohammad Haris returns after an extended spell out of the national side, while Saim Ayub remains absent with the ankle injury he picked up in South Africa. Hasan Nawaz, the 22-year old wicketkeeper who has played just 21 T20s and is yet to feature in the PSL, is in the squad. Abdul Samad, the 27-year big-hitting batter who is also yet to play PSL cricket, comes in after a positive domestic T20 tournament showing. Quetta Gladiators batter Omair Yousuf earns a call-up as Pakistan pivot sharply away from batters with an established T20I pedigree.
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.
While Aaqib Javed did not officially say this was the end of Rizwan as T20I captain, it appears very much on the cards after an unhappy, if brief, stint in the role. 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 in their 2-1 series win.
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.
Pakistan play five T20Is in New Zealand starting 16 March, followed by three ODIs.
Pakistan squad: Hassan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris Abdul Samad, Salman Ali Agha (capt), Irfan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyaan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan
