The ODI and T20I teams for Pakistan’s upcoming series against New Zealand were announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday.
With his selection in the Pakistani squads for the series against New Zealand, which will be played in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi from April 14 to May 7, Shaheen Shah Afridi is ready to make his return to international cricket after a four-month break.
Following the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Shaheen missed five-Test series and three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against England and New Zealand while he rested from a knee injury he had acquired in the first Test match against Sri Lanka in Galle in July.
After that, he had been unable to play in the second Test against Sri Lanka, the ODI series against the Netherlands, the ACC Asia Cup in the UAE, or the seven-match T20I series in Pakistan.
The 22-year-old, who has taken 99 Test, 62 ODI, and 58 T20I wickets, made a stunning comeback in Pakistan Super League 8, inspiring Lahore Qalandars to become the first team to successfully defend the championship.
Shaheen not only greatly contributed with the ball and bat, taking 19 wickets at an economy rate of 9.13 and scoring 133 runs at a strike rate of 168.35.
Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Rizwan are returning to both squads in addition to Shaheen. For the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan last month in Sharjah, all of these players had taken a break.
This means Shadab will take over as vice-captain and Babar Azam will resume his duties as captain for the ODI and T20I series against New Zealand.
Following outstanding performances in Sharjah, three young guns—Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, and Zaman Khan—have been kept in the T20I squad. Ihsanullah has also been added to the ODI squad for the first time in his career.
Squads
Squads for the T20i International matches are as follows: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
ODI: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Ihsanullah, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, and Usama Mir. Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, and Tayyab Tahir are the reserves.
Schedule for the series (T20Is will begin at 9 p.m.; ODIs will start at 3 p.m.):
- 1st T20I, Lahore, 14 April
- 2nd T20I, Lahore, 15 April
- 3rd T20I, Lahore, 17 April
- 4th T20I, Rawalpindi, April 20
- 5th T20I, Rawalpindi, 24 April
- 1st ODI, Rawalpindi, 27 April
- 2nd ODI, Rawalpindi, 29 April
- Third ODI, May 3, Karachi
- 4th ODI, Karachi, May 5.
- 5th ODI, Karachi, 7 May
