The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the squads for the one-day international (ODI) and T20 international (T20I) series against New Zealand on Tuesday.
Among the players set to return is Shaheen Shah Afridi, who will make his international cricket comeback after a four-month absence due to a knee injury. The matches will take place from April 14 to May 7 in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi.
Shaheen missed several matches, including five Tests and three ODIs against England and New Zealand, as well as the ACC Asia Cup in the UAE and a seven-match T20I series in Pakistan. He was completing his rehabilitation after suffering the knee injury during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle in July.
The Lahore Qalandars player made a remarkable comeback in the Pakistan Super League 8, where he helped his team become the first to successfully defend the title, taking 19 wickets and scoring 133 runs.
Other returning players include Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Rizwan. Babar Azam will be seen as captain again after in both the series against New Zealand, while Shadab Khan will perform his duties as vice-captain.
The T20I squad will feature three young players who showed impressive performances in the series against Afghanistan in Sharjah – Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, and Zaman Khan. In addition, Ihsanullah has been added to the ODI squad for the first time in his career.
The team will begin training on April 7 after assembling in Lahore on April 6.
The T20I squad will comprise Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Zaman Khan and Shan Masood.
The ODI squad will feature Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, 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.
