The Pakistani 17-man team for the five-match Twenty20 International series that begins in New Zealand on January 12 does not include Muhammad Haris. Along with Shadab Khan, who was forced to skip out due to an ankle injury, Haris is one of two conspicuous absences from the Pakistan team. Haris has not played for the country since the Asia Cup in September.
Both players are still a part of the team’s long-term goals, though, according to chief selector Wahab Riaz of Pakistan: “Shadab is a very important member of Pakistan T20 cricket and he’s a white-ball specialist.” Regretfully, he suffered an ankle twist during the season, requiring an additional two weeks of rehabilitation. After that he will be free to bowl. We spotted Harris’ potential and wanted to employ our player pool because he is a part of our future plans, thus he is resting because there were several elite performers.”
Naseem Shah, Pakistan’s first-choice fast bowler, has been sidelined since September due to injury; nevertheless, there was some positive news. Shah will not be available for this tour.
“Ihsanullah, Shadab, Mohammad Hasnain, and Naseem Shah were unfit,” Wahab stated. The good news is that Hasnain and Naseem are back to normal. Naseem is receiving treatment at the cricket academy and we don’t want to put too much pressure on him so he can play in the PSL the following year. Hasnain has also been called back to the academy so that we may evaluate him. Ihsanullah will, regrettably, require more time, and as of right now, I’m not sure if he will participate in the PSL. Shadab will also attend the academy to receive rehabilitation following his ankle injury.”
As Pakistan’s permanent T20I captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi will be captain for the first time in this series. Interestingly, Pakistan has included three wicketkeepers in their squad: Haseebullah Khan, who has yet to be capped, Azam Khan, and Mohammad Rizwan in an effort to locate “back-ups” before the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean.
“All three wicketkeepers-batters are proven performers in domestic and international cricket,” Wahab stated. “We haven’t been able to make backups in a couple years. We want to develop those backup plans and give some of the lads a shot come World Cup time. Haseebullah contributed some significant innings while playing for the Peshawar Zalmi in the middle order. In general, he has been playing white-ball cricket for the past few years with great success.
“Haseeb also launches domestically, but we still need to work on our Nos. 4 through 7, which has caused us problems in the past. We are currently in the construction process, so we will know who our Nos. 4 through 7 are and who will seize the opportunities before to the World Cup. Taking that into consideration, we chose Haseebullah due to his track record of success and high strike-rate (120.65). In order for these players to succeed in the West Indies, we want to develop them.”
Pakistan has also chosen to “invest” on “impact player” Azam rather than Shan Masood, who Wahab stated was one of the probables but was eventually overlooked.
“We’ve kept a careful eye on Azam, and occasionally you have to prioritize skill above fitness. “The most significant thing is when a player wins you a match,” Wahab remarked. We’ve discussed fitness levels with Azam and made it quite apparent that while we want to invest in you, you must reciprocate. Azam will travel with the team since it is obviously unrealistic to expect someone to shed 10-15 kg in just ten days. We want to give him a chance and monitor his fitness levels since he is an impact player.”
In New Zealand, Haris Rauf, who Wahab allegedly said had withdrawn from the current Test series against Australia, will make a comeback wearing Pakistani uniforms.
Pakistani team:
Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir, Zaman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Babar Azam,
