Pakistan Team Reaches Christchurch: Prior to the first match of the T20 series against New Zealand from March 16, Pakistan’s team reached Christchurch on Thursday. Pakistan has five T20 and three ODIs during their three -week tour. This will be Pakistan’s first white ball series after a poor performance in the domestic ICC Champions Trophy, where he failed to win a single match and got out of the tournament early. Pakistan lost to New Zealand and arch -rivals India, after which his match against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi was washed away due to rain.
In the T20, Pakistan will be commanded by Salman Aga, while Shadab Khan will be vice -captains, while three unkapted players – Abdul Samad, Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Ali – have been included in the team in the absence of senior players like Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Rizwan will remain the ODI captain, while Salman will be deputy for three 50 overs matches to be held at the end of the tour from 29 March to 5 April.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said in a release, ‘The decision to appoint Salman and Shadab as T20 captain and vice -captain respectively has been taken in mind with two major upcoming tournaments – ACC Men T20 Asia Cup 2025 (September 2025) and ICC Men T20 World Cup 2026 (February/March 2026). Salman led Pakistan in the T20 series against Zimbabwe last year, in which he won 2–1.
Under the preparations for ICC Men T20 World Cup 2026, Pakistan has at least five T20s in ACC Asia Cup 2025 and Bangladesh (domestic, May), West Indies (Foreign, July), Afghanistan (domestic, August), Ireland (domestic, September), South Africa (September/October), Sri Lanka (domestic, September/October), Sri Lanka (domestic, November) and Australia (domestic, January 2026).
Pakistan’s team is preparing for the ICC Men 50-Over Cricket World Cup 2027, in which Rizwan will continue to lead the ODI team, which will be in October/November 2027 in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Aqib Javed will remain as an interim head coach for the tour of New Zealand. His original term was till 2025, the ICC Champions Trophy, but he has been asked to extend his term till the beginning of the search for a permanent head coach, while Mohammad Yusuf has been appointed as a batting coach.
T20 team: Salman Ali Aga (Captain), Shadab Khan (Vice-Qetan), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Jahandad Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omir bin Yusuf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufayan Mokim and Usman Khan.
ODI Team: Mohammad Rizwan (Captain), Salman Ali Aga (Vice-Qetan), Abdullah Shafiq, Abrar Ahmed, Aqif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Nasim Shah, Sufayan Mokim and Tahir.
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