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Salman Agha captain, Babar Azam Mohammad Rizwan dropped Pakistan rejig T20I squad New Zealand tour

Pakistan have shuffled the deck once more in an attempt to find the right T20I 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 T20I captaincy to Rizwan’s deputy Salman Agha. On the ODI front, Rizwan retains his captaincy, but Shaheen Afridi has been dropped.

According to a PCB release, 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, is in the squad. Abdul Samad, the 27-year-old 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 their experienced batters in the format.

There are fewer changes in the bowling department, with the make-up roughly the same as it was for their recent T20I series in South Africa. Afridi and Haris Rauf are part of the squad, but Naseem Shah – who last played T20Is against Australia in November – remains absent. Spinners Sufiyaan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed retain their places, while Khushdil Shah comes into the side.

These changes bring an end to an unhappy, if brief, stint as T20I captain for Rizwan. He led Pakistan as full-time captain in just four 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 again looking to break free of the Babar-Rizwan combination at the top of the order. The duo 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 in T20Is, but their reliability and consistency of run accumulation, set in contrast against an oft-misfiring middle order, had seen Pakistan continue to return to them.

The ODI squad doesn’t include such drastic changes, except for the omission of Afridi. 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: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Agha (capt), Irfan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyaan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan

Pakistan ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (capt), Salman Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir.

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