Pak vs. NZ: People who spread “fake fears” about Babar Azam’s leadership are “out of work.”
Tuesday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Chairman Najam Sethi shut down rumours that national team leader Babar Azam might lose his job soon.
Sethi said in a tweet that Babar met him before the cricket board named the teams for the one-day international (ODI) and Twenty20 international (T20I) home series against New Zealand.
“Babar Azam came to see me today. I told him that he will lead the national team against New Zealand in both ODI and T20I. Then PCB made the teams public. So today, all the people who spread false fears are out of work,” he wrote.
Senior cricket players Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf joined Babar in taking over as captain of the national team. During the Afghanistan T20I series, they were allowed to rest.
After four months, Shaheen is going to play international cricket again. Due to knee recovery, he had to miss five Tests and three ODIs against England and New Zealand after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
Saim Ayub and Zaman Khan, both of whom are young, have kept their spots in the T20I team. But young Ihsanullah has been added to the ODI team for the first time and kept in the T20I team.
Teams for T20I and ODI
T20I: 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, Shan Masood and Zaman Khan
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 all in the reserves.