Pakistan team for New Zealand tour: No place for Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik and Mohammed Amir in 35-man squad

Pakistan team for New Zealand tour: The Pakistani selection committee has announced a 35-member squad for the tour of New Zealand.

Pakistan have announced a 35-member squad for their upcoming tour of New Zealand which comprises of three T20Is and two Test matches. With the tour scheduled to begin from December 18 in Auckland, Pakistan will leave for Lincoln on November 23 where they will spend their two-week mandatory quarantine period.

Asad Shafiq, who has played a record 72 consecutive Tests for Pakistan, has been dropped following a lean patch with the bat. Since the start of 2019, Shafiq has scored 510 runs in 10 Test matches at an average and strike rate of 34 and 57.69 respectively. The 34-year old batsman’s last Test century had come more than two years ago against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi.

Veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik and pacer Mohammed Amir are among two other notable omissions which have been made to give more opportunities to rookie players.

“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 on the basis of their outstanding and consistent performances as well as the value they bring to the T20I squad,” Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said in a statement.

Pakistan team for New Zealand tour

While Babar Azam has been named the captain of the Pakistani team across formats now, wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan has been named as his deputy in Test cricket. As far as T20Is are concerned, spinner Shadab Khan has been named Azam’s deputy.

The likes of Amad Butt, Danish Aziz, Imran Butt and Rohail Nazir have also been named in the squad after their promising performances in domestic cricket or Pakistan Super League.

Pakistan’s 35-member squad for New Zealand tour

Opening batsmen – Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood and Zeeshan Malik.

Middle-order batsmen – Babar Azam (c), Azhar Ali, Danish Aziz, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Haris Sohail, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Butt, Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Hafeez.

Wicket-keeper batsmen – Mohammad Rizwan, Rohail Nazir and Sarfaraz Ahmed.

Spinners – Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Yasir Shah and Zafar Gohar.

Fast bowlers – Amad Butt, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Musa, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sohail Khan and Wahab Riaz.