Major shuffle begins in Pakistan; Rizwan, Babar dropped from T20Is in NZ, Salman Agha named captain

LAHORE: Premier batter Babar Azam and captain Mohammad Rizwan have been dropped from Pakistan’s squad for the T20I series in New Zealand. With the skipper out of the fray, Salman Ali Agha has been named Pakistan’s T20I captain, with Shadab Khan acting as his deputy.

Rizwan will continue to lead Pakistan in the ODIs; however, pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi and tearaway Haris Rauf have been dropped from the format.

The major shuffle comes in the aftermath of Pakistan’s diabolical title defence in the ongoing Champions Trophy campaign. The defending champions suffered humiliation on their home turf and crashed out of the title race in the group stage.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed the changes in the T20I format have been made with two major upcoming tournaments in mind: the ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 (September 2025) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (February/March 2026).

Salman led the Men in Green in a T20I series against Zimbabwe last year, which Pakistan clinched with a 2-1 series win.

Abdul Samad, Hasan Nawaz, and Mohammad Ali are among the new faces in Pakistan’s T20I squad. Akif Javed and Mohammad Ali have also been added to the ODI squad.

The explosive opening duo, Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub, were not considered for either format on medical advice. Fakhar suffered a left lower intercostal muscle sprain during Pakistan’s Champions Trophy 2025 opener against New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Ayub is recovering from a right ankle fracture sustained on the first day of the Cape Town Test against South Africa in January. Both are expected to be fully fit for the Pakistan Super League 10, starting in Rawalpindi on April 11 2025.

Aqib Javed will continue as interim head coach for the New Zealand tour. His original term was to expire after the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. However, he has been asked to extend his tenure while the search for a permanent head coach begins. Notably, Mohammad Yousuf has been added to the management as batting coach.

Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand will be held from March 16 to 26. The T20I series will be followed by three ODIs, beginning from March 29.

T20I squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Jahandad Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousaf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim and Usman Khan

ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sufyan Moqim and Tayyab Tahir. (ANI)