Lahore, October 27 (IANS). Mohammad Rizwan has been appointed as the new captain of Pakistan's white ball cricket. The trio of Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who were dropped from Pakistan's squad for the two Test matches against England, have returned to the Pakistan squad selected for the upcoming Australia tour. However, all three have not been included in the team selected for the ODI and T20 series to be held in Zimbabwe after Australia.
Along with this, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has also released the new list of central contracts for Pakistan men's cricket. Apart from Rizwan, Babar has retained his place in A category but Afridi has been kept in B category instead of A. Pakistan, led by Shan Masood, won the Test series against England and have been retained in the B category.
However, Fakhar Zaman has lost the PCB's central contract for the first time in eight years. There were doubts about his fitness but recently there was a sourness in their relationship with PCB when PCB issued a show cause notice to Fakhar after he posted in support of Babar.
Apart from Fakhar, Imam Ul Haq has also lost his central contract and has not been given a place in any team. However, Pakistan's Australia tour will start from November 4 and end on November 18. While the Zimbabwe tour will run from 24 November to 5 December.
Announcing the squads, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan will be available for the Australia matches but will be rested from the T20 leg of the Zimbabwe tour, although he will play the ODIs.
Apart from Babar, Naseem, Rizwan, Shaheen and Salman Ali Aga, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Hasibullah and Mohammad Irfan Khan are in both the ODI and T20 teams for the Australia tour. Apart from Salman, Jahandad Khan is included in Pakistan's T20 team for the first time. Fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain, who was named Player of the Tournament by taking 17 wickets in the Champions One-Day Cup tournament in Faisalabad last month, has also returned to the ODI team. He last represented Pakistan in this format in January 2023 against New Zealand.
The PCB said Hasnain, Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafiq, Faisal Akram, Kamran Ghulam and Sam Ayub have been selected only for the ODIs and Jahandad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Omair bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Sufiyan Mokim and others for the T20s in Australia. Usman Khan will be replaced. Babar, Faisal, Haris, Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Naseem and Shaheen will leave for Melbourne on October 28, while the rest of the ODI team will leave on October 29. Pakistan white-ball coach Gary Kirsten will join the Pakistani team in Melbourne on October 28. Pakistan will play three ODIs and as many T20 matches against Australia from November 4-18.
For the Zimbabwe tour, the PCB said the domestic performers have been heavily rewarded. Ahmed Daniyal, Haris Rauf, Hasibullah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Taib Tahir and Salman Ali Aga have been selected for both formats of the tour.
Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafiq, Abrar Ahmed, Faisal Akram, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan, Sam Ayub and Shahnawaz Dahani have been selected in the ODI team for the series against Zimbabwe.
–IANS
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