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Pakistan will play a five-match T-20 series in New Zealand, followed by three ODI matches. The series will begin with the T-20 series on March 16 at Christchurch Hagley Oval.
Salman Agha, Pakistan's newly appointed T20I captain, has highlighted the necessity of enhancing their mindset and strategy and the importance of playing "fearless" and "high-risk cricket." For repeatedly questioning the strike rate in T-20 cricket, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are out altogether, eying the T-20 World Cup next year. Saim Ayub is still out due to his injury. Pakistan has a very new team for this series, so it will be difficult for them to play against the CT 2025 runner-ups. New Zealand will also be missing a few key players due to IPL 2025. Fast bowler Matt Henry rejoins the squad after being absent for the Champions Trophy final versus India in Dubai. In the fast bowling lineup, Will O'Rourke and Kyle Jamieson will participate in the initial three matches as Kane Williamson has decided to skip the series. Salman Agha has been named Pakistan's new T-20 captain, while Shadab Khan, who is making his T-20 return in this series, has been named as his deputy. Michael Bracewell has been named captain of New Zealand because Mitchell Santner is unavailable due to his IPL commitments. The surface at Hagley Oval is commonly recognised for benefiting batsmen. Teams that bat second have experienced a greater success rate at Hagley Oval in T20 internationals. Before the series started, Kiwi skipper Michael Bracewell spoke about the new-looking Pakistan squad. He said new players are coming onto their team; they are unknown, but he felt that if they do everything according to plan, that'll be good for anyone against them. "We've probably had a bit more of focus on ourselves. With a few new young players coming into the Pakistan side, there is a bit of the unknown. But I think as long as we know what we are trying to do, that'll be good enough for anyone that comes up against us." Michael Bracewell said, as per a quote from ESPNcricinfo. Salman Agha also expressed his views ahead of the clash between Pakistan and New Zealand. He said, "We have a new side, and we want to play fearless cricket. High-risk cricket is required in modern-day cricket." "This is a young team, and we want to play fearless cricket. That is high-risk cricket, which is a requirement in modern cricket. There will be failures with that approach, but we have to support our players." Salman Agha said. New Zealand Squad: Tim Robinson, Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Michael Bracewell(c), Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Ben Sears, Kyle Jamieson, William O'Rourke, Mitchell Hay Pakistan Squad: Omair Yousuf, Usman Khan(w), Abdul Samad, Mohammad Haris, Khushdil Shah, Salman Agha(c), Irfan Khan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Jahandad Khan. (ANI)
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