The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday announced the men’s squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand – Salman Ali Agha will be captaining the T20 International team while One Day International (ODI) captain, Mohammad Rizwan, will continue to lead the team in that format.
However, a notable change in the T20 team is the exclusion of the country’s star batter Babar Azam and wicketkeeper Rizwan.
Pakistan will play five T20s and three ODIs during the tour.
The team announcement comes amid widespread criticism of the national team’s poor performance in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Pakistan’s early exit from the tournament, marked by losses to India and New Zealand as well as a washed-out match against Bangladesh, has sparked calls for reforms within the PCB.
“The decision to appoint Salman and Shadab as T20I captain and vice-captain, respectively, has been made with an eye on two major upcoming tournaments — the ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 (September 2025) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (February/March 2026),” the statement issued by the PCB said.
It added that Salman had previously led Pakistan men in a T20 series against Zimbabwe last year, winning 2-1.
The statement read that interim head coach and de facto chief selector Aqib Javed will continue performing his duties for the New Zealand tour while Mohammad Yousuf will be joining as batting coach.
Speaking at the press conference in Lahore, T20 captain Salman said: “We have tried to include youngsters who are playing the brand of cricket in domestic cricket that we want to play in international cricket.
“With the focus being on improving intent and approach according to modern-day requirements, and we will give individual goals accordingly. This is a young team, and we will try to play fearless and high risk cricket according to modern-day requirements.”
Leg spinner Shadab Khan will be making a comeback to the T20 team as a deputy to Salman.
Speaking about Shadab’s selection, Aqib said: “There is an obvious challenge for us in the selection committee in the form of a lack of all-rounders.
“When Shadab was dropped he was told that you have to bowl longer spells in the red-ball format in domestic cricket which he did. I feel that after bowling longer spells, the concern regarding his accuracy would have ended.”
When asked about Babar and Rizwan’s exclusion from the T20 team, he replied, “You cannot say at any point that they will not be in future plans; however, right now we think that we need to bring in the young lot and change the style of play.
“Looking at other teams, they have separated their T20 teams by almost 80-90 per cent … we are trying to build a group of 24 to 25 players for upcoming tournaments and approach them with a particular mindset.”
He reiterated that he accepted responsibility for the team’s poor performance in the Champions Trophy.
“In the T20I squad, there are three uncapped players — Abdul Samad, Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Ali — while Akif Javed and Mohammad Ali are the two players who have yet to debut in ODIs. The four players have been rewarded for their impressive performances in the Champions One-Day and T20 Cups,” the PCB statement read.
The statement continued that openers Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub were not considered for either format on medical advice, adding, “Fakhar suffered a left lower intercostal muscle sprain during Pakistan’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 opener against New Zealand, while Saim is recovering from a right ankle fracture sustained on the first day of the Cape Town Test against South Africa in January.”
It said that both are expected to be fully fit for the Pakistan Super League 10, starting in Rawalpindi on April 11. Fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf have also not been included in the ODI squad.
T20I squad:
Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Jahandad Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousaf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
and Usman Khan
ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem and Tayyab Tahir. A wicketkeeper/batter will be added to the ODI squad following the T20Is
