Pakistan begins preparations for New Zealand tour

In order to prepare for the forthcoming tour of New Zealand, Pakistan’s men’s T20 team players have started assembling in Lahore to kick-start their training at the LCCA Ground from Friday (today).

Just weeks after their embarrassingly early exit from the ICC Champions Trophy, the players have started assembling in the Punjab capital and by evening all will reach to get ready for the first training session under floodlights under the supervision of interim head coach Aqib Javed.

The training will begin at 9pm. The team will undergo training until March 10. The squad is scheduled to depart for New Zealand on March 12 for the five-match T20 series.

They will begin their journey with the opener on March 16 at Christchurch. It will be followed by their match in Dunedin on March 18, Auckland on March 21, Mount Maunganui on March 23, and Wellington on March 26.

And then the action will be shifted to three-match ODI series featuring matches at Napier on March 29, at Hamilton on April 2, and Mount Maunganui on April 5.

The T20 team will be led by Salman Ali Agha while Shadab Khan, who has returned to the side, will act as his deputy.

The ODI team, which also includes Babar Azam, will be led by Mohammad Rizwan. Both the seasoned campaigners have been dropped from T20 squad with the intent to groom young blood for the T20 World Cup and Asia Cup.

Inclusion of rookies

Hard-hitting batsmen Abdul Samad and Hasan Nawaz and medium pacer Mohammad Ali are expected to make their T20I debuts.

The Faisalabad-born Abdul Samad is a hard-hitting batter, who has scored 323 runs in his 13 first-class matches at an average of 12.92.

In 31 List A matches the 27-year-old has scored 948 runs with an average of 35.11 which includes two centuries and five fifties. In 17 T20s he has scored 240 runs with 18.46 average.

He represented Markhors in the Champions T20 Cup in Rawalpindi where he batted at No.4 and down the order as well.

Hasan Nawaz, 22, has the experience of playing in 11 first-class matches, five List A and 21 T20 matches. Hasan has the ability to play big shots which selectors require. However, it will be seen how he handles pressure of international cricket.

Medium-pacer Mohammad Ali is a known product and this is a fine opportunity for him to express himself in white-ball cricket.

Ali, who have the experience of playing four tests, is famous for bowling with great discipline and his accuracy has already been seen in the last edition of the PSL while representing Multan Sultans.