Wahab justifies his new role, gives update on vice-captain and Rauf’s injury

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Wahab Riaz, a member of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selection committee, provided an update on the injury status of pacer Haris Rauf during the announcement of the squad for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand.

Riaz mentioned at a press conference in Lahore that Rauf is expected to recover in time for the England series but will unfortunately miss the five T20Is against New Zealand this month due to his injury.

Riaz, who will also serve as a senior manager during the New Zealand series, clarified the purpose of his new role. He stated that the concept of a Senior Manager is not new within the Pakistan Cricket Team and emphasized his responsibility to oversee player workload and rotation policy, which is a common practice in international cricket teams.

"Senior Manager is nothing new with the Pakistan Cricket Team. I will look into workload and rotation policy of players. This happens everywhere in other international teams," Wahab said.

Furthermore, Riaz highlighted that Pakistan will adhere to a rotation policy during the New Zealand series to manage the workload of players effectively.

Additionally, Riaz revealed that selectors are currently deliberating on the vice-captaincy position for the Pakistan Cricket Team in white-ball cricket, with an announcement to be made at a later stage.

Pakistan squad:

Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan (wk), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman, Irfan Khan Niazi, Usama Mir, Zaman Khan

Reserves: Haseebullah, Mohammad Ali, Agha Salman, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Wasim Jr

The New Zealand team is set to arrive in Pakistan on April 14th for the five-match T20 series commencing on April 18th, with three matches scheduled in Pindi and the remaining two in Lahore.

New Zealand squad:

Michael Bracewell (c), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Dean Foxcroft, Ben Lister, Cole McConchie, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Will O’Rourke, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert (WK), Ish Sodhi