Babar Azam returns to lead Pakistan

Babar Azam on Tuesday returned to the Pakistan team as captain of the ODI and T20 squads for the home series against New Zealand beginning April 14.

Besides Babar, left arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi also returned to international cricket for the first time since the T20 World Cup in Australia last November.

Though Shaheen bowled and also captained the Lahore Qalandars franchise to their second successive title in the Pakistan Super League last month, a knee injury kept him out of a home Test series against England and later New Zealand.

The national selectors had rested Babar, Shaheen, Haris Rauf, Fakhar Zaman and Muhammad Rizwan for the recent T20 series in Sharjah against Afghanistan which Pakistan lost by 1-2.

All five seniors returned to the side for the five ODIs and five T20 internationals against  New Zealand, which will be played in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi from April 14 to May 7.

The selectors also retained three of the youngsters who went to Sharjah and debuted against Afghanistan -- opener Saim Ayub and fast bowlers Ihsanullah and Zaman Khan.

SQUADS:

T20I: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), 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

ODI: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), 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.