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Pakistan's emerging quick Zaman Khan is confident that the return of a host of key senior players will ensure his side finds their best form during the upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand.
Babar Azam's team will play a five-match T20I and five-match ODI series against New Zealand, starting April 14 in Lahore. After being rested during Pakistan's recent T20I series loss to Afghanistan, captain Babar Azam, key trio Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, and Haris Rauf will all play against the Kiwis. Star pacer Shaheen Afridi will also be making his international comeback in the 10 white-ball matches. Zaman - who made his international debut during the Afghanistan series - believes Pakistan will be a much stronger side because of the return of key personnel and is expecting an improved performance against New Zealand. "Against Afghanistan, the conditions were a bit different and the players were new. In the New Zealand series we will have the home advantage as well as our senior players. If you have the likes of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the team, it boosts the confidence of all the other players and winning matches becomes considerably easy," Zaman was quoted as saying by ICC.com. Even though Zaman only took two wickets in the three matches he played against Afghanistan, the 21-year-old nevertheless managed to earn a spot in Pakistan's 16-player T20 team for New Zealand's trip to Asia. Zaman is content to be in the mix with a number of frontline bowlers, regardless of whether it proves to be sufficient for him to earn a spot in Pakistan's XI during the series. "Every bowler is different; some are good with the new ball and some are good at the death. It is for the management to decide where they bring me into use, but whenever I get the chance I'll try my best to win matches for Pakistan," he noted. "Before playing for Lahore Qalandars, life was difficult. But after that, things really improved for me. (Lahore teammates) Shaheen Bhai (Afridi) and Haris Bhai (Rauf) supported me a lot, doing net practice with them, playing matches with them have helped me learn a lot. We won two finals together and hopefully in the future as well I would like to keep learning," Zaman said. Pakistan T20I squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Zaman Khan Pakistan ODI squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Ihsanullah, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Usama Mir. Reserves: Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed and Tayyab Tahir. (ANI)
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