On Saturday, December 24, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named former captain Shahid Afridi as the temporary chair of the Men’s National Selection Committee. The former all-rounder has now quickly added a few fresh players to the Test squad for the two-match series against New Zealand that gets underway on Monday, December 26.
New pace sensation Shanawaz Dahani and left-arm pacer Mir Hamza are two notable acquisitions. Dahani has not yet played in a Test match, while Hamza only played once against Australia in 2018. Outstanding first-class stats for the 30-year-old Hamza have finally paid off. “We had a good discussion on the squad and agreed we needed to strengthen our bowling department to give ourselves the best chance of taking 20 wickets in a match,” Afridi said as quoted by ICC’s official website.
“Taking into consideration recent form and performances, we have added fast bowlers Mir Hamza and Shahnawaz Dahani, and off-spinner Sajid Khan,” he added. “I am confident the inclusion of three additional bowling resources will give Babar Azam more options to field the best available squad for the first Test,” Afridi further added.
Prior to the home Test series against New Zealand, Pakistan appears to have resolved some of their troubles with the addition of these striking bowlers. The National Bank Arena in Karachi will host both games and the ensuing three-match ODI series. Due to the bad weather forecast for the city, the Multan leg of the bilateral series has been moved to Karachi.
After losing two straight home Test series this year, the Babar Azam-led team will be under a lot of pressure. They would be coming off of a devastating 0-3 loss to England going into the upcoming red-ball games. Pakistan, which has already been eliminated from contention for the WTC championship, would be trying to save face by not losing another home series.