PCB names 35 member squad for the tour of New Zealand

Pakistani Cricket Board ( PCB ) have agreed to tour New Zealand at late December of this year. This tour comes under the summer schedule of New Zealand Cricket Team which was announced a month earlier. This tour consists of 3 T20 Internationals and 2 Test Matches. Now, Pakistani Cricket Board have announced their tour party of 35 members, which is travelling to New Zealand at this month end or next month early. Also, Babar Azam has been named as full time captain of Pakistani cricket team.

Earlier, this year, during the COVID-19 Lockdown Pandemic time, Pakistan's current best batsman, Babar Azam has been named as Captain of Limited overs squad. Under his first assignment, Pakistan had drawn the T20I series against England, and won both ODI and T20I series against Zimbabwe. As a youngster, Pakistani selectors felt that this might be the right time for Babar Azam to lead the side in Test Cricket also. Considering his calmness and age, he can be the apt choice for captaincy but only one request is that, don't often change captains, and continue with Babar for atleast this decade. Babar Azam's first assignment is the tour of New Zealand.

Now, Pakistani team has announced their squad of 35 members. This squad consists of Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam Ul Haq, Shan Masood, Zeeshan Malik, Babar Azam ( c ), Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Khushdil Shah, Iftikar Ahmed, Imran Butt, Haris Sohail, Haider Ali, Fawad Alam, Danish Aziz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Rizwan, Rohail Nazir, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Yasir Shah, Zafar Gohar, Amad Butt, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Musa, Naseem Shah, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz. 

This squad consists of many debutants naming Abdullah Shafique, Zeeshan Malik, Imran Butt, Danish Aziz, Hussain Talat, Rohail Nazir, Zafar Gohar, and Amad Butt. All of them have proved themselves in local cricket, and are in desperation to prove in this International Stage. This squad is also Pace heavy, which might make them even more tougher during red ball cricket, as at New Zealand, the pitches are prepared with greenish surface assisting the pacers of both the sides. So, during the two test matches, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Musa, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi and other young guns would be crucial. 

Spin department also looks a bit decent. The only query is their batting department. They have left Asad Shafiq oweing to his poor performances in England, mid of this year. Also, sending youngsters to fulfil the team's position might look little risky. Surprising factor is that, Fawad Alam has been included once again, despite of his poor performances in England soil. This time, he needs to use his opportunity as gold. Overall review is that this series will definitely be a tougher one for both the sides and expecting a stiff fight.