Pakistan men's chief selector, Wahab Riaz, has announced a 17-member squad for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting from January 12 in Auckland.

While speaking in press conference in Lahore, Riaz disclosed that Mohammad Haris has been rested for the series, emphasizing the management's awareness of his capabilities and inclusion in future plans.

“We have rested Mohammad Haris for this series. We know his capability and he is part of our plans going forward. There were some domestic performers in First Class cricket who we wanted to give a chance and increase our pool of players, so we rested Haris from this tour,” Wahab said.

Regarding Shadab Khan, Riaz highlighted the spinner's significance in Pakistan's T20 cricket. Unfortunately, Khan sustained an ankle injury during the National T20, requiring an additional two weeks of rehabilitation.

“Shadab Khan is a very important member of Pakistan T20 cricket. Unfortunately, he suffered an ankle injury during the National T20 and requires two further weeks of rehab. After that, he'll be available to bowl,” Wahab said.

Addressing the selection process for the middle order, Wahab pointed out the need to develop players for positions four to seven. He highlighted the performances of Haseebullah in the PSL and white-ball cricket, noting his impactful innings

“Haseebullah played some impactful innings in the PSL in the middle order and has performed a lot in white ball cricket. He opens in domestic cricket but for team adjustment, we need to develop players for numbers four to seven. Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Faheem Ashraf were given chances but they couldn't create that type of impact, so now we're in a building phase to see which players can fit into these positions,” he added.

Pakistan squad: Shaheen Afridi (c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Haseebullah Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan

The training camp is scheduled to commence at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore on December 28 and will conclude on January 3rd.

Pakistan tour of New Zealand:

January 12: New Zealand vs Pakistan – First T20I in Auckland

January 14: New Zealand vs Pakistan – Second T20I in Hamilton

January 17: New Zealand vs Pakistan – Third T20I in Dunedin

January 19: New Zealand vs Pakistan – Fourth T20I in Christchurch

January 21: New Zealand vs Pakistan – Fifth T20I in Christchurch