PCB axe Shoaib Malik & Mohammad Amir for away T20I series against New Zealand

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday announced a 35-player squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand from which the national men's squad will be selected. They have decided to drop the likes of veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik and one of the premier pacers Mohammad Amir for the upcoming tour. Apart from these two, senior batsman, Asad Shafiq has also been dropped as well. 

Meanwhile, Pak head coach Misbah-ul-Haq has gone on to say that the side has decided to drop Malik and Amir as they are now looking to invest in youngsters.

'Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Amir are not part of the white-ball matches': Misbah-ul-Haq

"There are three major omissions from the side that toured England. Asad Shafiq has been left out due to lack of form after he managed 510 runs in his last 15 innings, including a total of 67 runs in England. Asad is an experienced batsman and I am sure he will utilise this time to work harder on his game in the domestic first-class matches so that he, like Sarfaraz Ahmed, can reclaim his form and be back in contention for the upcoming Tests against South Africa and Zimbabwe," Misbah said in an official PCB release.

"Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Amir are not part of the white-ball matches as for this tour we have opted to invest, develop and focus on the promising and emerging players who are likely to be available to Pakistan for all formats," he added.

When it comes to red-ball cricket, Malik had last played a Test match way back in 2015 whereas Amir had shockingly announced his retirement from the longest format in July 2019 at the young age of 27.

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Pakistan tour of New Zealand 

Batting sensation Babar Azam will be leading the 1992 World Cup winners in all the three formats while wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan will be his Test deputy and bowling all-rounder Shadab Khan ill be the vice-captain in the shortest format. Azam had replaced Azhar Ali who was Pakistan's captain in red-ball cricket.

Pakistan will be visiting New Zealand for a three-match T20I series that will be followed by a two-match Test series between 18 December 2020 to 7 January 2021. The Test series will form part of the inaugural 2019–21 ICC World Test Championship.

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(With ANI Inputs)