Pakistan Squad For New Zealand T20Is To Be Selected By December 25, Hints Wahab Riaz

Pakistan will face New Zealand in a five-match T20I series in January and Pakistan’s Chief Selector Wahab Riaz has hinted that the squad for the five-match tour of New Zealand will be selected by December 25, as per Cricket Pakistan. Wahab Riaz took over the role of Pakistan’s chief selector after Inzamam-ul-Haq resigned from his post after his suspected involvement in a player’s agent company which was a huge conflict of interest.

Wahab Riaz addressed the media during a sports day event in Lahore where he revealed that Naseem Shah has still not completely recovered from his injury and will be missing out on the T20I series against New Zealand. He is expected to be fully fit by the time Pakistan Super League begins. The ninth season of the Pakistan Super League is scheduled to begin in February.

In addition, Wahab Riaz emphasized that the players displaying their skills and talent in the ongoing National T20 Cup will also be considered for selection in the national team’s squad. The chief selector also informed that the PCB is planning to set up a training camp for the preparation of the upcoming series.

Wahab Riaz Has Replaced Inzamam-ul-Haq As Chief Selector

Wahab Riaz was appointed as Pakistan’s chief selector after Inzamam-ul-Haq faced a probe into a conflict of interest after it was found out that he was a major stakeholder in a firm that belonged to a players’ agent. Inzamam announced his resignation from the post with an option to regain his position if found not guilty of the accusations.

The Pakistan Cricket Board appointed Wahab Riaz as the interim chief selector for the Pakistan National cricket team after Inzamam’s resignation. Pakistan did not have an auspicious ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign as they failed to qualify for the semi-finals. The Men In Green lost four consecutive matches in the World Cup for the first time.

Babar Azam stepped down as the skipper from all formats and Shaheen Shah Afridi has been given the responsibility to lead the side in T20Is whereas Shan Masood will captain the Test team. Pakistan will face Australia in a three-match Test series starting on December 14.