Pakistan Names New T20I Captain for New Zealand Tour

Following an early exit from the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan has decided to go with a fresh approach in the T20Is by appointing Salman Ali Agha as captain of the side in the shortest format of the game and dropping their prominent names Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. The 31-year-old will lead the side in five T20Is starting from March 16. 

Pakistan Name’s Salman Ali Agha New T20I Captain for New Zealand tour 

On 4th March, Tuesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced their T20I and ODI squad for the New Zealand tour 2025. The board appointed Salman Ali Agha as captain for the T20I series, while Babar and Rizwan missed the place in the T20I squad but retained their spot in ODIs. Shaheen Shah Afridi, on the other hand, misses the ODI selection and gets a place in T20Is.

The New Zealand tour will be the debut series as captain for Salman Ali Agha. The batting all-rounder has played only 6 T20Is for Pakistan, scoring 50 runs. Overall he played 62 matches and scored 2343 runs, including four centuries.

Here are Pakistan’s T20I and ODI squads for the New Zealand tour

T20 squad: Hassan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris Abdul Samad, Salman Ali Agha (c), Irfan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyaan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan.

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

About Pakistan tour of New Zealand 2025 

Pakistan tour of New Zealand is set to be played from 16 March to 5 April. The series will feature 5 T20Is and 3 ODIs.