Pakistan announced squad for Tour of NZ

Pakistan 16 Man Test Squad:

Pakistan has announced a 16 man squad for test tour of New Zealand. Pakistan will play two test matches during their tour of New Zealand. First match will be played from 17 to 21 of November in Christchurch. Second match will be played from 25 to 29 of November 2016 in Hamilton. It will be a short tour for Pakistan cricket team. Pakistan had a good success rate in test cricket for past couple of years. Pakistan is currently ranked 2nd in ICC test ranking and it is just the beginning of test cricket dominance for a country who is deprived of playing any home series on own land. Pakistan test squad is pace and seamers heavy due to turning wickets in New Zealand.

Player Included and Dropped:

Pakistan has included Sharjeel Khan and Mohammad Rizwan in the test squad and Zulfiqar Babar is left out. Sharjeel Khan is left handed opening batsman and has featured in Pakistan ODI matches, Sharjeel will debut in Test series in New Zealand. Mohammad Rizwan is middle order batsman and part time wicket keeper, he will also get an opportunity to play his debut test match. Babar Azam is also included in the Pakistan test squad. Pitches in New Zealand are pace friendly and spin bowling might not be a big factor in winning games. Yasir Shah will be the leader of spin attack, joined by Mohammad Nawaz. Pakistan pace attack includes three left arm seamers Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali. Right-arm seamers in pace attack are Imran Khan and Sohail Khan.

Pakistan Test Squad: Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam (opener), Sharjeel Khan (opener), Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain of Pakistan team), Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicket keeper), Mohammad Rizwan (backup wicket keeper), Mohammad Nawaz (all rounder), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan.

Pakistan might experiment with Sharjeel Khan as an opener. Sharjeel has scored 4853 runs in first class matches with a batting average of 37.91 and will most likely open innings with Sami Aslam. Azhar Ali might go back to his no. 3 position followed by Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. Pakistan will play couple of all-rounders to give them opportunity to score extra runs in test match. Squad for tour of New Zealand is pace heavy, considering nature of wickets in NZ. Pakistan test squad for tour of New Zealand is a mixture of experienced and young cricketers but selectors didn't want to do much changes in existing squad that is played against West Indies. 

Inzaman Full Faith in Squad:

Pakistan test team has been finalized by chief selector Inzamam ul Haq and the national selection committee after consultations with the team head coach and captain. Chief selector of Pakistan cricket, Inzamam ul Haq said, "The Test team has been selected keeping in mind the conditions in New Zealand and the recent performances of players in the recent Test series against England and West Indies. The team is a fine blend of experience and youth, and the selectors have stick to the same combination of players selected against England and West Indies series earlier and believe that team will do well in the tour".

• Mohammad Hafeez is included in category A of contracted players by PCB but still not selected for test tour of New Zealand.
• Zulfiqar Babar is dropped from existing test squad.
• Sharjeel Khan and Mohammad Rizwan will play debut test.

Pakistan struggled in their previous tour of New Zealand. Pakistan lost ODI series and T20 series earlier this year. After back to back victories and with inform players in the squad, Pakistan won't have to worry much in facing New Zealand in their territory. Good Luck Pakistan ...

Share on Google Plus

About Unknown