Pakistan batter Ahmed Shahzad was called up for camp ahead of the T20I series against New Zealand next month.
Recently, Shahzad quit the Pakistan Super League (PSL) after being ignored in the draft for season nine. He also accused PSL franchises of deliberately keeping him out of the country’s premier T20 event.
It must be noted that chief selector Wahab Riaz announced the squad for the five-match series earlier today.
The players named in the squad will be assembling for a training camp, ahead of their departure. The camp will take place December 28 to January 3 in Lahore.
Apart from Shahzad, eight additional players have also been called up for the camp which includes Mohammad Haris, Arif Yaqoob, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Amir Khan, Sajjad Ali Jnr, Shahab Khan, Kamran Ghulam and Omair Bin Yousuf.
“It is very important for us to nurture our young talent as they have to represent Pakistan going forward. This is the best pool of players but we also want to build back-ups. We have to explore our new talent and see what kind of performances they are capable of producing. Going forward, we need to understand our back-up options in our player pool and also promote domestic performers,” said Riaz.
Full squad:
Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicket-keeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wicket-keeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir, Zaman Khan.
Full schedule:
1st T20 – 12 January 2024 at Eden Park, Auckland
2nd T20 – 14 January 2024 at Seddon Park, Hamilton
3rd T20 – 17 January 2024 at University Oval, Dunedin
4th T20 – 19 January 2024 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
5th T20 – 21 January 2024 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
- Ahmed Shehzad
