On Friday (November 2), the 15-member Pakistan ODI squad has been announced for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand in UAE, starting from November 7. Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez have returned to the ODI squad while Mohammad Amir has been dropped from the side.
After missing the 2018 Asia Cup in UAE in last September, the all-rounders Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez have finally returned to the ODI squad. After scoring a Test century in the recent series against Australia in UAE, Hafeez has performed consistently in the recent T20I matches. On the other hand, Wasim’s recent brilliant performances in the List A cricket helped him to return to the ODI format.
While Hafeez played his last ODI in this January against New Zealand at Wellington (19 January 2018), Wasim hasn’t played an ODI cricket since 23 October 2017 against Sri Lanka at Sharjah.
Though the 26-year-old left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir has recently shown consistent performances with the ball in hand in the domestic cricket, his wicket-less figures in last five ODIs has forced him to get dropped from this format too. After the wicket-less journey in 2018 Asia Cup, Amir has been dropped from the Test and T20I squads respectively before this latest dropout.
Shan Masood and Mohammad Nawaz are the other players from the 2018 Asia Cup squad, who also have been dropped from the latest ODI squad. The 29-year-old Masood hasn’t made his ODI debut yet, while the 24-year-old all-rounder Nawaz has also been dropped out from the squad.
After their disappointing performances in 2018 Asia Cup, Sarfraz Ahmed’s leading Pakistan side is desperate to win the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand in UAE. Surprisingly, Pakistan has never won a bilateral ODI series against New Zealand in UAE as they have played twice in this country and both times New Zealand has won the series.
While since 2011, Pakistan has failed to win a bilateral ODI series against New Zealand; Pakistan hasn’t also won an ODI game against New Zealand since the December 2014 (New Zealand won 11 games and match abandoned 1 game).
Full Pakistan ODI squad against New Zealand in UAE: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Imam Ul Huq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt/wk), Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan.
Full schedule of three-match ODI series between Pakistan and New Zealand in UAE in 2018/19
November 7: First ODI – Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium (Abu Dhabi)
November 9: Second ODI – Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium (Abu Dhabi)
November 11: Third ODI – Dubai International Cricket Stadium (Dubai)
