The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has revealed a 35-member squad for their recently upcoming New Zealand tour. In the squad, people were amazed to see no Shoaib Malik and no Mohammad Amir.
Misbah ul Haq, the head coach has defined the reason for not selecting these two players as he said the board wants to give their maximum priority to youngsters to try different combinations suiting best.
Misbah ul Haq reveals the reason behind dropping Amir, Malik for the New Zealand tour
“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,” he said in a press conference.
Misbah also congratulated many youngsters for being capable of their entrance in the 35-member squad against New Zealand. Naming Amad Butt, Danish Aziz, Imran Butt, and Rohail Nazeer, the head coach said that they are specifically chosen for building the team’s strength.
“I want to congratulate uncapped Amad Butt, Danish Aziz, Imran Butt, and Rohail Nazir who have impressed the selectors with their form, technique, temperament, and ability to secure places in the 35-player pool. However, these four players are amongst some other players who have been selected specifically for Shaheens as part of our strategy to build our bench strength,” Misbah-ul-Haq added.
On the other hand, Asad Shafiq has also been dropped on behalf of his poor form whereas, Fawad Alam has retained his place in the team.
Here is the complete squad:
Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Zeeshan Malik, Babar Azam (C), Azhar Ali, Danish Aziz, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Haris Sohail, Hussain Talat, Imran Butt, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan (Test VC), Rohail Nazir, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan (T20I VC), Usman Qadir, Yasir Shah, Zafar Gohar, Amad Butt, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Musa, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan
