Wahab Riaz, Fakhar Zaman dropped for South Africa T20Is
Pakistan have announced their T20I squad for the upcoming three-match series against South Africa. Opener Fakhar Zaman and veteran pacer Wahab Riaz have been dropped from the T20I squad following their poor performances in the previous series in New Zealand. Shadab Khan is ruled out of the T20I series due to injury, while Mohammad Hafeez and Imad Wasim have made themselves unavailable for the series due to their commitments with T10 League.
The 20-member squad was announced by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on 31st January. Uncapped batsman Danish Aziz, all-rounder Amad Butt and Leg-spinner Zahid Mehmood have earned their maiden call-up to the national side for the three-match series. Left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar makes his return to the T20I squad after being dropped from the Test squad for South Africa series.
Last year, Pakistan lost the three-match T20I series against New Zealand by a margin of 2-1. Bowling all-rounder Shadab Khan captained Pakistan in that series as Babar Azam was sidelined due to injury. Mohammad Hafeez was a notable absentee after doing well so well in New Zealand.
Pakistan Chief Selector Mohammad Waseem and his panel of selectors have decided to cover all the bases for the upcoming three-match T20I series against South Africa.
All the three-match T20I series will be played at Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore on 11th, 13th and 14th February respectively. The 20-member squad will enter the bio-secure environment from 3rd February. The players who participated in the recently concluded Test series will join the bio-secure environment once the mandatory Tests are carried out.
T20I Squad for South Africa series: Babar Azam, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Danish Aziz, Amad Butt, Mohammad Nawaz, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Hasnain, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Zafar Gohar, Zahid Mehmood, Usman Qadir.
