New Zealand has announced their squad for the T20I series against Pakistan. Surprisingly, they’ve not selected veteran middle-order batsman Ross Taylor in the squad, while Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, and Tim Southee are also not part of their squad for the first T20I.
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Williamson, Boult, and Southee will be available for the second and third T20I though. All-rounder Mitchell Santner has been named as the captain for the first T20I, while Williamson will lead the side once he returns to the squad.
According to selector Gavin Larsen, Taylor’s omission from the squad is due to the sublime form of batsmen Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips. While Williamson is not available for selection for the first T20I due to the birth of his child.
Pacers Lockie Ferguson and Hamish Bennett have also been ruled out of the series due to injuries, which has left New Zealand’s owling unit depleted.
None of the players that are currently playing in the second Test against West Indies are available for selection in the first T20I.
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Meanwhile, the Pakistan squad has been practicing in Queenstown, the players have participated in two intra-squad practice matches, with players looking to regain their match sharpness after a prolonged isolation period upon their arrival in New Zealand.
Here are the squads:
Pakistan T20I squad:
| Babar Azam (c) | Shadab Khan (vc) | Abdullah Shafique | Faheem Ashraf | Haider Ali |
| Haris Rauf | Hussain Talat | Iftikhar Ahmed | Imad Wasim | Khushdil Shah |
| Mohammad Hafeez | Mohammad Hasnain | Musa Khan | Mohammad Rizwan | Sarfaraz Ahmed |
| Shaheen Afridi | Usman Qadir | Wahab Riaz |
New Zealand squad for 1st T20I:
| Mitch Santner (c) | Martin Guptill | Jimmy Neesham | Ish Sodhi | Todd Astle |
| Doug Bracewell | Mark Chapman | Devon Conway | Glenn Phillips | Jacob Duffy |
| Scott Kuggeleijn | Tim Seifert | Blair Tickner |
New Zealand squad for 2nd and 3rd T20I:
| Kane Williamson (c) | Martin Guptill | Jimmy Neesham | Ish Sodhi | Todd Astle |
| Trent Boult | Kyle Jamieson | Devon Conway | Glenn Phillips | Daryl Mitchell |
| Scott Kuggeleijn | Tim Seifert | Tim Southee |
