Pakistan ODI And T20I Squad vs New Zealand Revealed!! Babar Azam Dropped

After a poor campaign in the Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan is shifting its focus to the upcoming five-match T20I and three-match ODI series against New Zealand, starting from March 16. In just six days in the tournament, they have been eliminated from the eight-team ICC tournament.

The Green Brigade is now focusing on the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. They couldn’t do well in the last season of the event in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), when they failed to go beyond the group stage of the tournament.

Pakistan drops Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in T20I squad

The PCB is still trying to find the right T20 combination in the opening position, as the selectors have dropped both captain Mohammad Rizwan and veteran batter Babar Azam for the shortest format in New Zealand. In the very first squad after an ICC competition, Shadab Khan returns to the national side.

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The last international game for the all-rounder came against Ireland in Lauderhill. Shadab, who has managed 679 runs in 52 T20I innings besides picking 107 wickets at an economy rate of 7.24, has got the vice-captaincy. Salman Ali Agha will be the new leader for the Pakistan side in the T20I side.

Along with Babar and Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi is not part of the shortest format. That’s quite a surprise in selection given the next ICC event of this format is less than a year to go. Rizwan had a brief stint with the shortest format captaincy as he is yet to win a single T20I for the national side.

Agha led the side in Zimbabwe for a series victory of 2-1. Babar’s absence in the side suggests that Pakistan is again trying to break free from the slow opening combination as both of them received so much criticism.

No drastic change in Pakistan’s ODI squad

The 50-over squad hasn’t seen any drastic change, except for the omission of Shaheen, who was their best bowler during the series victories in South Africa and Australia. Rizwan has held the ODI captaincy as well, while Abdullah Shafique returns after being dropped for the home ICC event.

Left-arm pacer Akif Javed earns a maiden ODI squad selection, while Sufiyaan Muqeem returns as well. The PCB release has expressed that Mohammad Haris is returning for an extended period out of the national side, while Saim Ayub is still recovering from ankle pain.

Abdul Samad, who is a big-hitting batter and is yet to play the PSL, comes into the T20I side after an impressive domestic tournament. Omair Yusuf earns a call-up as the national side is putting attention on the players’ main pedigree.

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The first of the five T20Is will begin on March 16 at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch, while the ODI series will start on March 29 at McLean Park in Napier. All the three 50-over games will be morning fixtures. This will be Pakistan’s last international fixture before the 2025 season of the PSL.

Pakistan’s ODI and T20I Squad vs New Zealand

T20I Squad:

Hassan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris Abdul Samad, Salman Agha (captain), Irfan Niazi, Khusdil Shah, Shadab Khan Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyaan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan

ODI Squad:

Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khusdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir.