Bureau Report
Lahore: Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Amir, and Shoaib Malik were dropped as head coach-cum-chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq announced a 35-member squad for the New Zealand tour of three T20Is and two Tests. According to Misbah, Asad was dropped from the squad following his poor form with the bat as the right-handed batsman scored just 510 runs in his last 15 innings. Whereas, the exclusion of Amir and Malik will be a chance for youngsters to prove their mettle. “We wanted Asad to go back to domestic cricket to gain his form back just like Sarfaraz Ahmed. We believe he has still left with the potential to perform up to the mark at the international level,” he said.
“However, in place of Malik and Amir, we have given chances to youngsters considering upcoming 5 big ICC events,” he added.
Meanwhile, domestic performers including Hussain Talat, Imran Butt, Amad Butt, Danish Aziz, and Zeeshan Malik have got a place in the squad.
It must be noted here that the 35-member squad was selected from the list of 45 players which was sent to New Zealand Cricket.
Squads
Openers (six): Abid Ali (Central Punjab/Lahore Qalandars), Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab), Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/Lahore Qalandars), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan/Peshawar Zalmi), Shan Masood (Soutern Punjab/Multan Sultans) and Zeeshan Malik (Northern) Middle-order batsmen (11): Babar Azam (captain) (Central Punjab/Karachi Kings), Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Danish Aziz (Sindh), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Haider Ali (Shaheens vice-captain, Northern/Peshawar Zalmi), Haris Sohail (Balochistan), Hussain Talat (Southern Punjab/Islamabad United), Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/Karachi Kings), Imran Butt (Balochistan), Khushdil Shah (Southern Punjab/Multan Sultans) and Mohammad Hafeez (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/Peshawar Zalmi) Wicketkeepers (three): Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain, Tests) (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/Karachi Kings), Rohail Nazir (Shaheens captain, Northern/Multan Sultans) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh/Quetta Gladiators)
Spinners (five): Imad Wasim (Northern/Karachi Kings), Shadab Khan (vice-captain, T20Is) (Northern/Islamabad United), Usman Qadir (Central Punjab/Multan Sultans), Yasir Shah (Balochistan/Peshawar Zalmi) and Zafar Gohar (Central Punjab/Islamabad United)
Fast bowlers (10): Amad Butt (Balochistan/Islamabad United), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab/Islamabad United), Haris Rauf (Northern/Lahore Qalandars), Mohammad Abbas (Southern Punjab/Multan Sultans), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh/Quetta Gladiators), Mohammad Musa (Northern/Islamabad United), Naseem Shah (Central Punjab/Quetta Gladiators), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/Lahore Qalandars), Sohail Khan (Sindh/Quetta Gladiators) and Wahab Riaz (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/Peshawar Zalmi)
