Shadab Khan rules out with ankle injury, Mohammad Haris rested for NZ T20I series

Shadab Khan. Pic/AFP

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Haris has been rested for the five-match NZ vs PAK T20Is while spinner Shadab Khan has sustained an ankle injury, ruling him out of the squad.

Pakistan's chief selector Wahab Riaz confirmed the news of Shadab's injury and revealed that he will take at least "two weeks for rehab" and will be available after that. Riaz added that Haris was rested since "we want to use our pool of players" in the upcoming series.

"Shadab is a very important member of Pakistan T20 cricket and he's a white-ball specialist. Unfortunately, he got injured during the season; he twisted his ankle, which will take another two weeks for rehab. He will be available to bowl after that. Haris is rested because there were some first-class performers and we saw Harris' capability and since he's part of our plans going forward, we want to use our pool of players," Wahab Riaz was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.

Pakistan's chief selector also confirmed that pacer Naseem Shah has recovered from his injury. But he was not selected since they didn't want to put an overload on the 20-year-old speedster.

"Ihsanullah, Shadab, Mohammad Hasnain, and Naseem Shah were unfit. The good news is Hasnain and Naseem have recovered and Naseem is undergoing rehab at the cricket academy and we don't want to overload him so he will be available for the PSL next year. Same for Hasnain - he is returning and we've called him at the academy so we can assess him. Ihsanullah will unfortunately take more time and I'm not sure right now if he'll play in the PSL or not. Shadab will also come to the academy after his ankle injury and he'll undergo rehab," he added.

The NZ vs PAK T20Is will begin on January 12 and conclude on January 21. The second T20I match will be played on January 14, the third January 17 and the 4th T20I will take place on January 19.

Pakistan's T20I squad against New Zealand: Shaheen Shah Afridi (C), Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (Wk), Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir, Zaman Khan.

(With agency inputs)