Pakistan Squad For New Zealand Tour Announced

On Wednesday Head Coach Misbah-ul-Haq announced a 35-member squad for the New Zealand tour scheduled in December. This time the team selection focuses on upcoming talent that can be a bright future for Pakistan cricket.

The squad includes

Addressing the press conference Misbah congratulated the new uncapped players who made it to the squad based on their consistent performance, impressive technique, and promising abilities. The new faces in the squad include Amad Butt, Imran Butt, Danish Aziz, Usman Qadir, and Rohail Nazir.

Where the new names make the highlight of the squad. The cricket fans cannot unsee the absence of big names in the squad. Asad Shafiq, Muhammad Amir, and Shoaib Malik were unable to secure a place in the 35-member squad.

Misbah during his press conference also address this and said that “There are three major omissions from the side that toured England. Asad Shafiq has been left out due to lack of form after he managed 510 runs in his last 15 innings, including a total of 67 runs in England. Asad is an experienced batsman and I am sure he will utilize this time to work harder on his game in the domestic first-class matches so that he, like Sarfaraz Ahmed, can reclaim his form and be back in contention for the upcoming Tests against South Africa and Zimbabwe” as stated by ESPN.

Speaking further Misbah said that "Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Amir are not part of the white-ball matches as for this tour we have opted to invest, develop and focus on the promising and emerging players who are likely to be available to Pakistan for all formats. We have kept faith in Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz purely based on their outstanding and consistent performances as well as the value they bring to the T20I squad."

The other important aspect of the announcement was Muhammad Rizwan being made the deputy of Babar Azam for the test while the leg-spinning allrounder Shadab Khan will serve as vice-captain for T20s.

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The squad will be leaving for New Zealand on November 23 for three T20s and two test matches. With an aim to improve the team’s T20 ranking and gain crucial points to be better placed in the ICC World Test championship.