Pak vs NZ: Shahid Afridi announces 16-man squad for ODI series
Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail recalled in squad.
Usama Mir called in to replace injured Shadab Khan.
Uncapped Tayyab Tahir earns his maiden call.
KARACHI: Pakistan’s interim selection committee on Thursday announced a 16-member squad for three-match ODI series against New Zealand to be played in Karachi this month.
Opening batsman Fakhar Zaman has been included in the team after returning from injury while Haris Sohail has also been recalled for the white-ball series. Haris last played an ODI for Pakistan in October 2020.
Uncapped Tayyab Tahir, who had a tremendous run in local events, has earned his maiden call. Usama Mir has also been named in the team in lieu of injured Shadab Khan.
“I spoke to Shadab this morning, he wasn’t feeling comfortable owing to finger injury, that’s why he is not selected for the series against New Zealand,” said Shahid Afridi while naming the squad in Karachi.
Afridi added that the selection committee did discuss the team management before declaring the squad for the series.
The three-match ODI series will be contested in Karachi from January 9-13.
“We requested Babar and Saqlain to offer their option of 16 before deciding this team, where we felt things may improve, we do hold a discussion on these issues,” Afridi underlined.
“It was a crucial job for me, there is no scarcity of talent in Pakistan and it made me feel good. I am here for a limited time but vital was to keep Pakistan’s future in mind,”
“Our mandate was to pick squads for the New Zealand series alone but we have made our decisions having the future in our sight. We have also put a lot of weight on how well a team does in domestic cricket,” he said.
To a query on players missing domestic season for feign leagues, Afridi said that he is not in favour of letting players go to leagues when the home season is being played.
He added that the players who were freed to play in the Bangladesh Premier League would need to be back in Pakistan no later than 10 days before the commencement of the Pakistan Super League.
Afridi explained that he did not receive “green signals” from the board about including Sharjeel Khan in the final squad, despite the fact that Khan had been included on the likely list owing to his performance in the domestic circuit.
Squad
Babar Azam (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir and Usama Mir