Pakistan announce 16-player squad for New Zealand ‘A’ four-day match (17-20 December)

[MenInG]

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Test side players who will not be involved in the T20Is, will remain with Pakistan Shaheens to prepare for the two-Test series, which commences at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, on 26 December.

As part of their preparation for the four-day match against New Zealand A, which begins on 17 December, Shaheens will also play intra-squad practice matches in Queenstown.

Pakistan Shaheens coach Ijaz Ahmed: “Apart from providing youngsters the opportunity to get some experience and exposure, the objective of Shaheens was to help the red-ball Pakistan men’s national team players prepare for the Tests by featuring in the pre-series matches against New Zealand ‘A’. Despite the disappointment of losing a four-day match, I am pleased that some of the top Pakistan Test players will be representing Shaheens against New Zealand ‘A’ in Whangarei, which will enhance the importance and profile of the match.

“The quarantine period was a tough one, something none of us had experienced before, but instead of reflecting on the tough times, we should now start focusing and thinking about playing and performing in international cricket because that is what we have come here for.

“We need to avail and cash in on every opportunity to hone our skills and try to improve as professional cricketers. There is no better place than New Zealand to achieve these career objectives as the country has some amazing and cricket-friendly playing conditions.”



Pakistan Shaheens for New Zealand ‘A’ four-day match:

Rohail Nazir (captain), Abid Ali, Amad Butt, Azhar Ali, Danish Aziz, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Butt, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Yasir Shah, Zafar Gohar and Zeeshan Malik.

 

[Xoib]

It's a warm up for the test squad why was there a need to send such a large contingent if its the test team that will play the Shaeen games.

 

[Junaids]

Sohail Khan!!!!!!!!!

A 36 year old playing for the Emerging Pakistan team!!!!!

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Azhar Ali demoted to the Shaheens? Can we possibly see a bat off? That might mean the end of his career, if I’m not misinterpreting things. Crazy!

 

[Sunny_majoka]

What rubbish

 

[Arsal_AK]

I knew it from the moment Misbah announced the sqaud that this was going to happen. This was the reason for announcing a combined squad. What a ridiculous team. If you are calling it a Shaheen's tour, that it should be a Shaheen's tour.

The upshot of this fiasco is that Haider, Abdulah will get no four day games on the tour. They could have played one but the management had the bright idea of cancelling that match so that they could play a match between themselves?

Abid, Shan, Azhar, Haris, Fawad, Rohail, Amad, Yasir, Sohail, Abbas, Naseem.

I won't be surprised if that is the team, for a game billed as giving some experience to upcoming players in foreign conditions. The only two players under 30 are Rohail and Amad. I don't know how Rohail survived this, probably because he was named captain.

If this doesn't look like a disaster of epic proportions I don't know what is.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

I knew it from the moment Misbah announced the sqaud that this was going to happen. This was the reason for announcing a combined squad. What a ridiculous team. If you are calling it a Shaheen's tour, that it should be a Shaheen's tour.

The upshot of this fiasco is that Haider, Abdulah will get no four day games on the tour. They could have played one but the management had the bright idea of cancelling that match so that they could play a match between themselves?

Abid, Shan, Azhar, Haris, Fawad, Rohail, Amad, Yasir, Sohail, Abbas, Naseem.

I won't be surprised if that is the team, for a game billed as giving some experience to upcoming players in foreign conditions. The only two players under 30 are Rohail and Amad. I don't know how Rohail survived this, probably because he was named captain.

If this doesn't look like a disaster of epic proportions I don't know what is.

Haider and Abdullah are needed for the T20I game. You would have done the same in Misbah’s place.

I don’t like it, but I don’t blame him.

 

[JibranAnsari]

Killed the purpose of A tour with this squad , misbah is truly a cancer

 

[shah_1]

Extremely sad

It would have been good if Abdullah Shafique, Hussain Talat playing 4 day matches. Abudullah will most likely be sitting on the bench

 

[El Generico]

So does that mean Danish Aziz and Zeeshan Malik won’t be available for the T20s? Weren’t they picked for T20s? This makes no sense.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

So does that mean Danish Aziz and Zeeshan Malik won’t be available for the T20s? Weren’t they picked for T20s? This makes no sense.

They’ve been picked for the 6 Shaheens T20 matches

 

[Xoib]

I knew it from the moment Misbah announced the sqaud that this was going to happen. This was the reason for announcing a combined squad. What a ridiculous team. If you are calling it a Shaheen's tour, that it should be a Shaheen's tour.

The upshot of this fiasco is that Haider, Abdulah will get no four day games on the tour. They could have played one but the management had the bright idea of cancelling that match so that they could play a match between themselves?

Abid, Shan, Azhar, Haris, Fawad, Rohail, Amad, Yasir, Sohail, Abbas, Naseem.

I won't be surprised if that is the team, for a game billed as giving some experience to upcoming players in foreign conditions. The only two players under 30 are Rohail and Amad. I don't know how Rohail survived this, probably because he was named captain.

If this doesn't look like a disaster of epic proportions I don't know what is.

I thout there were 2 Shaeen 4day games has the second game been cancelled?

 

[angrypathan]

Azhar Ali demoted to the Shaheens? Can we possibly see a bat off? That might mean the end of his career, if I’m not misinterpreting things. Crazy!

You're definitely misinterpreting things. This game will be at the same time as the T20 series for the main squad. Azhar Ali is not in the T20 squad so he's been put in this squad. Similar situation going on here in Australia where Tim Paine is currently playing for Australia A because he's not in the T20 squad playing India.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

You're definitely misinterpreting things. This game will be at the same time as the T20 series for the main squad. Azhar Ali is not in the T20 squad so he's been put in this squad. Similar situation going on here in Australia where Tim Paine is currently playing for Australia A because he's not in the T20 squad playing India.

Yep you’re right. But it’s still a semi bat-off if Azhar is playing alongside some youngsters - if he fails and let’s say Imran Butt or Rohail Nazir hit a century, it essentially becomes a really close decision as to who plays the actual tests, don’t you think?

 

[angrypathan]

Yep you’re right. But it’s still a semi bat-off if Azhar is playing alongside some youngsters - if he fails and let’s say Imran Butt or Rohail Nazir hit a century, it essentially becomes a really close decision as to who plays the actual tests, don’t you think?

Azhar scored a century in his last test. His place isn't in question for the first test. There is a chance he could be on the chopping block if he fails in both tests here though. Rohail and Azhar aren't competing for the same spot anyway.

 

[Arsal_AK]

I thout there were 2 Shaeen 4day games has the second game been cancelled?

The first game has been cancelled because they (Misbah and Co.) wanted the players to play some practice matches between themselves.

 

[Xoib]

Yep you’re right. But it’s still a semi bat-off if Azhar is playing alongside some youngsters - if he fails and let’s say Imran Butt or Rohail Nazir hit a century, it essentially becomes a really close decision as to who plays the actual tests, don’t you think?

Azhar scored a 141 in his last match you are deluded if you think misbah will remove Azhar based on a low score in a warm up game.

 

[Xoib]

The first game has been cancelled because they (Misbah and Co.) wanted to play some practice matches between themselves.

Unbelievable.

 

[Omer2002]

I thout there were 2 Shaeen 4day games has the second game been cancelled?

Yes second one is cancelled

 

[Arsal_AK]

Haider and Abdullah are needed for the T20I game. You would have done the same in Misbah’s place.

I don’t like it, but I don’t blame him.

They aren't needed. We can play anyone in the T20s. Look at the current Australia team. Nobody takes these random T20s seriously expect us.

I wouldn't have. Remember I said it when the squad was announced that Haider should play both 4 day games even if it means missing the 2 T20s.

Both Haider and Abdullah have played no FC match since the last QeA trophy. That is ridiculous and then we wonder why we aren't a top test team. Australia just pulled Green out of the T20 squad and put him in the A game against India, if we want to look at a comparison.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

They aren't needed. We can play anyone in the T20s. Look at the current Australia team. Nobody takes these random T20s seriously expect us.

I wouldn't have. Remember I said it when the squad was announced that Haider should play both 4 day games even if it means missing the 2 T20s.

Both Haider and Abdullah have played no FC match since the last QeA trophy. That is ridiculous and then we wonder why we aren't a top test team. Australia just pulled Green out of the T20 squad and put him in the A game against India, if we want to look at a comparison.

We don’t play IPL like Australia and the top Aussie players are all in form, meanwhile we still don’t know who the opener to partner Babar should be instead of Fakhar. Also Aussies are trying youngsters and resting main players, Abdullah Shafique and Haider Ali are exactly the youngsters they would be trying out if they were in our position. Cameron Green specifically won’t be playing the T20 world cup whereas in all likelihood both Haider and Abdullah will be.

I agree that they should play the first class games and not the T20s keeping in mind their long term development, but potentially what you’re talking about is only giving them 1-2 series before the T20 world cup to settle in and then throw them right into the fire.

There’s definitely an argument for allowing them to find their feet like this. I think the best balance I would have had was swap Abdullah to the first class squad and Zeeshan Malik to open alongside Babar, but there’s honestly nothing we can do about Haider Ali.

I called it a couple weeks ago when the schedule was announced actually, it was never a good move in the first place for the Shaheens 4 day games to conflict with our actual T20I games and then our Test games to conflict with the Shaheens T20 games.

They should have run parallel, so that the distinction was very clear. The real issue as a result now is that we have these mixed squads due to bad scheduling - that’s why I wasn’t surprised when it was announced, because this has really been the only possible outcome for several weeks now since the schedule was announced.

 

[Arsal_AK]

We don’t play IPL like Australia and the top Aussie players are all in form, meanwhile we still don’t know who the opener to partner Babar should be instead of Fakhar. Also Aussies are trying youngsters and resting main players, Abdullah Shafique and Haider Ali are exactly the youngsters they would be trying out if they were in our position. Cameron Green specifically won’t be playing the T20 world cup whereas in all likelihood both Haider and Abdullah will be.

I agree that they should play the first class games and not the T20s keeping in mind their long term development, but potentially what you’re talking about is only giving them 1-2 series before the T20 world cup to settle in and then throw them right into the fire.

There’s definitely an argument for allowing them to find their feet like this. I think the best balance I would have had was swap Abdullah to the first class squad and Zeeshan Malik to open alongside Babar, but there’s honestly nothing we can do about Haider Ali.

I called it a couple weeks ago when the schedule was announced actually, it was never a good move in the first place for the Shaheens 4 day games to conflict with our actual T20I games and then our Test games to conflict with the Shaheens T20 games.

They should have run parallel, so that the distinction was very clear. The real issue as a result now is that we have these mixed squads due to bad scheduling - that’s why I wasn’t surprised when it was announced, because this has really been the only possible outcome for several weeks now since the schedule was announced.

I agree with you on the schedule was a big disaster, they should have had the two formats for each squad in parallel. PCB messed it up baldy there. But still the situation could have been salvaged.

Australia aren't trying youngsters on the expanse of their test careers. That's the point. If Green plays next year for Australia, he will have had a couple of A tours, full domestic FC seasons to grow in the role for the test team. Now compare that with someone like Abdullah. Hasnain is in the same boat, he needs these tours if we want to make him a test quality bolwer.

Now on them getting enough games before the T20 WC, I think they will. They will get the full PSL, the Zim series, the SA series, the Eng series and then the Eng series again. Not to mention the A games running in parallel with the tests. That's quite a lot, almost about 12 internationals and the whole PSL. Them missing two T20s for a couple of FC games (now down to one) wouldn't have been a big deal.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

More like a tour game for the seniors than a game for the shaheens

I'm sure azhar ali won't mind being led out by rohail nazir

 

[moghul]

Congratulations to Misnah, he already found an excuse for team's bad performance on the tour , as he described " lack of preparation for the team".

 

[moghul]

More like a tour game for the seniors than a game for the shaheens

I'm sure azhar ali won't mind being led out by rohail nazir

Somethings are more important than cricket , " respect for the seniors", thats our culture .

 

[Titan24]

Sohail Khan!!!!!!!!!

A 36 year old playing for the Emerging Pakistan team!!!!!

Thats the issue with big combined squads for tours during pandemic. There was no other pacer available for the Pak A team and same is the case with batsmen. If it would have been a separate squad and Shaheens tour, he definitely wouldnt have been anywhere near.

With 5 pacers and one pace bowling all rounder with Pak T20 squad, the only remaining ones were Abbas, Sohail Khan, Naseem Shah and Amad Butt.

 

[aloo paratha]

People overreacting. I'd much rather our main guys get some practice too. There are still young guys like Rohail, Zafar Gohar who'll get to play the game.

The real problem is with the scheduling of the A team games, it made squads like these necessary.

 

[GreenKhan]

I am not sure what the fuss is about . Shaheens have additional games as well, but for those players who are in the test team which Includes Azhar , Shan masood etc how are they going to get match practice if they don’t play this match . The first test is not far away !

We just moan for the sake of it

 

[Shoaibbtt]

I think this is a decent enough squad. It allows some players who are seniors to be prepped for the tests. The one good thing is that the kookaburra is being used as opposed to Dukes even if the pitches are different. InshAllah i expect big things from some of my fav players. Good luck lads! Everyone is having a winge but this isn't a half bad squad.

 

[Nasty Naz]

The schedule is just so bad with so little preparation time for the Test matches that Pakistan are essentially resorting to using A matches as practice matches for the Tests. The A matches and T20 matches are going to happen simultaneously which is unfortunate and hopefully Babar/Shaheen/Rizwan will be ready for the Tests but they are basically only going to be playing T20's as the preparation for it.

Maybe if there weren't so many COVID tests and the players were training, it might be a different squad but it seems necessary especially considering how tough NZ conditions are.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Picking hussain talat for his performance in FC cricket and playing him in T20s not making him play 4 day for Shaheens is seriously stupid. He won’t play the t20s either , will be warming the bench.

Danish aziz selected for his LOI performance but gonna play 4 day game.

 

[aloo paratha]

Picking hussain talat for his performance in FC cricket and playing him in T20s not making him play 4 day for Shaheens is seriously stupid. He won’t play the t20s either , will be warming the bench.

Danish aziz selected for his LOI performance but gonna play 4 day game.

Talat also did well in the national T20 cup

 

[shamaan]

Picking hussain talat for his performance in FC cricket and playing him in T20s not making him play 4 day for Shaheens is seriously stupid. He won’t play the t20s either , will be warming the bench.

Danish aziz selected for his LOI performance but gonna play 4 day game.

Some stupid decisions defonitely talat should be playing 4day game and danish should have been in the t20 squad

 

[shamaan]

I am not sure what the fuss is about . Shaheens have additional games as well, but for those players who are in the test team which Includes Azhar , Shan masood etc how are they going to get match practice if they don’t play this match . The first test is not far away !

We just moan for the sake of it

Talat in t20 squad and danish in the 4day squad does that make sense

 

[shamaan]

Azhar Ali demoted to the Shaheens? Can we possibly see a bat off? That might mean the end of his career, if I’m not misinterpreting things. Crazy!

Defonitely no azhar is thier for match practise he wasnt going to be in the t20 squad hes garranted to start

 

[shamaan]

Haider and Abdullah are needed for the T20I game. You would have done the same in Misbah’s place.

I don’t like it, but I don’t blame him.

I would have played haider in the shaheens i have stated this a few other posts hes supposedly meant to be WC for shaheens

 

[shamaan]

So does that mean Danish Aziz and Zeeshan Malik won’t be available for the T20s? Weren’t they picked for T20s? This makes no sense.

Danish should be in the t20 squad instead of 4 day game.but both will play in the shaheens t20 squad

 

[shamaan]

I hope abdullah gets to play the t20 otherwise it would be another wasted oportunity for him to play 4 day games for Shaheen

 

[sharmaji]

I am keen to see how Fawad Alam performs.

 

[Shoaibbtt]

I am keen to see how Fawad Alam performs.

Same, i wish he really does well. I reckon it helps if you have played against the Kookaburra ball which is what they will use in NZ and what they have been using in QeA. The conditions will be difficult but InshAllah i wanna see him pull it off and prove us all wrong.

 

[sharmaji]

Yes. Nothing like an underdog success story.

Same, i wish he really does well. I reckon it helps if you have played against the Kookaburra ball which is what they will use in NZ and what they have been using in QeA. The conditions will be difficult but InshAllah i wanna see him pull it off and prove us all wrong.

 

[DarkKnight123]

Talat in t20 squad and danish in the 4day squad does that make sense

I could understand why you are saying that. If I was Misbah I would have picked both of them for the T20 squad. But Talat got selected over Danish because of how innovative he can become when batting and can be a future replacement of M Hafeez or in the middle order. Both players are stars and I love both of them and like I said both of them should have gotten selected but those are the only reasons why I feel Misbah chose Hussain Talat.

 

[naseem]

Sohail Khan!!!!!!!!!

A 36 year old playing for the Emerging Pakistan team!!!!!

What u expect from Misbah......he and Imran shouldn't be anywhere near Pak squad

 

[naseem]

Danish should be in t20 too

 

[naseem]

I would have taken Danish 4 Talat in t20s.....hell would select Danish in t20 and talat in tests only

 

[shamaan]

I could understand why you are saying that. If I was Misbah I would have picked both of them for the T20 squad. But Talat got selected over Danish because of how innovative he can become when batting and can be a future replacement of M Hafeez or in the middle order. Both players are stars and I love both of them and like I said both of them should have gotten selected but those are the only reasons why I feel Misbah chose Hussain Talat.

I would have chosen talat in the 4 day game and the shaheens t20 game i dont see how talat is going to play in the main team vs new zealand unless abdullah doesnt play

 

[shamaan]

I would have taken Danish 4 Talat in t20s.....hell would select Danish in t20 and talat in tests only

Danish proberly will not get into the main squad hence why they proberly thought give him some batting time he will definitely play in the shaheens t20s

 

[DarkKnight123]

I would have chosen talat in the 4 day game and the shaheens t20 game i dont see how talat is going to play in the main team vs new zealand unless abdullah doesnt play

I dont think Talat is going to play either, unless Pakistan are up 2-0. But even if Danish was selected, he wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to play either, bc they have Khushdil Shah and Iftikhar "Ul Haq" Ahmed.

 

[shamaan]

I dont think Talat is going to play either, unless Pakistan are up 2-0. But even if Danish was selected, he wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to play either, bc they have Khushdil Shah and Iftikhar "Ul Haq" Ahmed.

But talat thiers more chance him playin in the shaheens than the t20 main team

 

[DarkKnight123]

But talat thiers more chance him playin in the shaheens than the t20 main team

Talat is going to play for the Shaheens. He is going to play t20s for the Shaheens. You have to remember that when Pakistan is going to be playing Test matches, the Shaheens are going to be playing T20's.

I totally agree with you that he had a better chance to play in the Shaheens first class matches, instead of warming the bench, but like I said before his innovative shots in t20 is probably what made Misbah choose him for the t20 squad. Also inshallah if Pak are up 2-0, Talat will get his opportunity in the 3rd t20.

 

[shamaan]

Talat is going to play for the Shaheens. He is going to play t20s for the Shaheens. You have to remember that when Pakistan is going to be playing Test matches, the Shaheens are going to be playing T20's.

I totally agree with you that he had a better chance to play in the Shaheens first class matches, instead of warming the bench, but like I said before his innovative shots in t20 is probably what made Misbah choose him for the t20 squad. Also inshallah if Pak are up 2-0, Talat will get his opportunity in the 3rd t20.

Yeah hes definitely going to play the t20 for the shaheens.but he was choosen based upon the qaid e azam stats.hes a good player he aint that old azwell which is good

 

[DarkKnight123]

Yeah hes definitely going to play the t20 for the shaheens.but he was choosen based upon the qaid e azam stats.hes a good player he aint that old azwell which is good

According to Misbah, they had finalized the squad early. That is why Saud Shakeel didnt get selected. They had picked performers of National T20 cup for the selection of T20s and One round and last yrs Quaid e Azam trophy for the selection of first class cricket/Test.

 

[UzmanBeast]

I'm talking about the whole squad selected for this tour of New Zealand when I say that Babar Azam needs to set the foot down and make some final decisions regarding a few players. A few players who were selected had no performances and weren't selected on the basis of merit. A few other players are being backed despite not performing up to the mark that is needed.

Take Iftikhar as an example. He's played 10 T20I games and scored 174 runs at a strike rate of 138 and a bloated average exceeding 50. He occupies an "all-rounder" slot though his returns with the ball have been poor. In 10 games he has managed only one wicket conceding over 9 runs per over and with a bowling average of 56, I think that he is not an all-rounder. He is a part-timer at best, and part-timers are completely useless in T20Is. Are these the types of players we want? His T20 stats by themselves are pretty poor, with an average of 26 and a strike rate of 126, do we expect him to be our so-called "finisher" in T20I?

Similarly, Rizwan has been an awful waste of a slot in T20Is as well. He has been given enough opportunities, 23 games, and has scored 184 runs at a strike rate of 96 and an average of 16.8. His T20 stats aren't very compelling either, averaging 30 with a strike rate of 108.

I have just pointed out two wasted slots in the T20I team, and the fact remains that both will be tried yet again in New Zealand, a tour which was ever so important for us to make the right tactical decisions and best possible selections.

I really don't understand the point of having a team management if everyone is just this clueless. Iftikhar and Rizwan have both not proved anything during PSL, and we expect them to be saviours in T20I? That's an absurd way to think. Any board in their right mind would look at those stats and use an iota of sense to determine that these are not suitable candidates for T20I.

As for the rest of the squad, why are we selecting Sohail Khan and the likes of Mohammad Musa? Have we not already established that both are entirely useless to the team? Sohail Khan is too old to be a long-term prospect, and Musa, despite having age on his side, could not even deliver a convincing performance against ZIMBABWE. Are these the players we think will help us win against a very strong New Zealand team? If this is the state of our selections, then we are in a very dire state. How was Muhammad Musa prioritized over Usman Khan Shinwari, who has given commendable performances for Pakistan in the past? I'd even rather take Amir than take Sohail Khan.

If you have read till here, I assume that you have understood the state of our selections, being based entirely on "feelings that X player can do well" rather than on the statistical fact that most of the players we have selected are not on the basis of merit, nor performance.

 

[shamaan]

According to Misbah, they had finalized the squad early. That is why Saud Shakeel didnt get selected. They had picked performers of National T20 cup for the selection of T20s and One round and last yrs Quaid e Azam trophy for the selection of first class cricket/Test.

Thats stupid so why didnt they select and annonce the squad earlier that would have made more sense.