The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Tuesday the male team for the next New Zealand tour.
Salman Ali Agha will captain the international team T20, while the captain of an international day (ODI), Mohammad Rizwan, will continue to lead the team in that format.
However, a notable change in the T20 team is the exclusion of the star batter of the Babar Azam country and the Wicktkeeper Rizwan.
Pakistan will play five T20 and three hate during the tour.
The announcement of the team occurs in the midst of wide criticism of the poor performance of the national team in the continuous ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
The early departure of Pakistan of the tournament, marked by losses against India and New Zealand, as well as a game torn against Bangladesh, has caused calls to reforms within the PCB.
“The decision to appoint Salman and Shadab as Captain of T20I and Vice-Capitán, respectively, has been taken with one eye in two main main tournaments: the T20 Asia Cup 2025 2025 (September 2025) and the World Cup T20 of ICC Men’s T20 (February/March 2026),” said the statement issued by the PCB.
He added that Salman had previously led Pakistan’s men in a T20 series against Zimbabwe last year, winning 2-1.
The statement said that the interim coach and de facto chief selector AQIB Javed will continue to perform his functions for the New Zealand tour, while Mohammad Yousuf will join as a batting coach.
Speaking at the press conference in Lahore, the captain of T20, Salman Agha, said: “We have tried to include young people who perform the Cricket brand in the National Cricket that we want to play in the International Cricket.
“With the focus of improving intention and focus according to modern requirements, and we will give individual objectives accordingly. This is a young team, and we will try to play brave and high risk Cricket according to modern requirements. “
The Shadab Khan’s leg spinner will return to team T20 as Salman deputy.
Speaking about his selection, Aqib said that: “There is an obvious challenge for us in the selection committee in the form of a lack of all the rodeores.
“When Shadab dropped, they told him that you have to play longer spells in the red ball format in the domestic cricket he did. I feel that after longer bowling, the concern regarding its precision would have ended. ”
When asked about the exclusion of Babar and Rizwan of the T20 team, he replied: “It cannot be said at any time that they will not be in future plans; however, at this time we believe that we need to bring the young lot and change the style of play.
“When observing other teams, they have separated their T20 teams in almost 80-90 percent … we are trying to build a group of 24 to 25 players for the next tournaments and approach them with a particular mentality.”
He reiterated that he accepted responsibility for the poor performance of the team in the Champions Trophy.
“In the T20I team, there are three players without limit, Abdul Samad, Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Ali, while Akif Javed and Mohammad Ali are the two players who have not yet debuted in Odi. The four players have been rewarded for their impressive performances in the cups of one day and T20 champions, ”said the PCB statement.
The statement continued that the openings Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub were not considered for any of the formats on medical advice, adding: “Fakhar suffered a lower left intercostal muscular spraw during the coat Icc Champions Trophy 2025 of Pakistan, while Saim is recovering from a fracture of right ankle held on the first day of the city of the city against southern Africa in January. ” “” “”
He said that both are completely fit for the Super League 10 of Pakistan, starting in Rawalpindi on April 11. Fast players Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf have not been included in the Odi team.
T20I squad:
Salman Ali Agha (Captain), Shadab Khan (Vice-Captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Jahandad Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas Aphridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Muhammad Irfan Khan Khan, Omair Bin Yousaf Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem and Usman Khan
Odi Squad: Mohammad Rizwan (Captain), Salman Ali Agha (Vice-Capitán), Abdullah Shafique, Asto Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-Ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Nagumy, Naguy, Shah, Shah, Nagus Tayyab Tahir. A WICKETKEPER/MASS TO THE ODI Squader after the T20IS will be added
