Image Credit- ICC
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.
However, Wahab Riaz, Pakistan’s chief selector,
confirmed that both players are still a part of the team’s long-term plans:
“Shadab is a very important member of Pakistan T20 cricket and he’s a
white-ball specialist. Unfortunately he got injured during the season; he
twisted his ankle which will take another two weeks for rehab. He will be
available to bowl after that. Haris is rested because there were some
first-class performers and we saw Harris’ capability and since he’s part of our
plans going forward, we want to use our pool of players.”
Pakistan have been dealing with international cricket
without first-choice fast bowler Naseem Shah who has been injured since
September, and while they won’t have him for this tour either, there was good
news.
“Ihsanullah, Shadab, Mohammad Hasnain, and Naseem
Shah were unfit,” Wahab said. “The good news is Hasnain and Naseem
have recovered and Naseem is undergoing rehab at the cricket academy and we
don’t want to overload him so he will be available for the PSL next year. Same
for Hasnain – he is returning and we’ve called him at the academy so we can
assess him. Ihsanullah will unfortunately take more time and I’m not sure right
now if he’ll play in the PSL or not. Shadab will also come to the academy after
his ankle injury and he’ll undergo rehab.”
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.
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.
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had withdrawn from the current Test series against Australia, will make a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.