KARACHI:Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq says that Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Amir have not been picked for New Zealand tour in order to invest, develop and focus on the promising and emerging players.
“Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Amir are not part of the white-ball matches as for this tour we have opted to invest, develop and focus on the promising and emerging players who are likely to be available to Pakistan for all formats,” Misbah said.
“Asad Shafiq has also been left out due to lack of form after he managed 510 runs in his last 15 innings, including a total of 67 runs in England. Asad is an experienced batsman and I am sure he will utilize this time to work harder on his game in the domestic first-class matches so that he, like Sarfaraz Ahmed, can reclaim his form and be back in contention for the upcoming Tests against South Africa and Zimbabwe.”
“The matches in New Zealand are critical for us as we aim to improve our T20I rankings and also gain valuable points in the ICC World Test Championship. In this background and taking into consideration recent player performances, we have selected the best available players.
“I want to congratulate uncapped Amad Butt, Danish Aziz, Imran Butt and Rohail Nazir who have impressed the selectors with their form, technique, temperament and ability to secure places in the 35-player pool. However, these four players are amongst some other players who have been selected specifically for Shaheens as part of our strategy to build our bench strength.
“We have kept faith in Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz purely on the basis of their outstanding and consistent performances as well as the value they bring to the T20I squad” Misbah said.
“The ongoing domestic season has produced three highly impressive and consistent spinners in Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mahmood. Unfortunately, due to New Zealand government regulations as part of their Covid-19 travel requirements, we had to provide a provisional list of 45 players to New Zealand Cricket by 12 October and, as such, these players missed out because at that time, the National T20 Cup was ongoing while the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy had not commenced.
“However, the positive side is we are now developing a strong pool of top-quality spinners who will challenge each other for places in the national sides that, in turn, will help in the overall performances in the sides.”