New Zealand have included uncapped Wellington batting all-rounder Muhammad Abbas in their squad for the three-match NZ vs PAK ODI series.
New Zealand will host Pakistan for three ODIs, at Napier on March 29 and April 2, and at Mount Maunganui on April 5. Tom Latham will lead them in the absence of captain Mitchell Santner, who is playing in the ongoing IPL.
Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, and Glenn Phillips also have IPL commitments; Matt Henry is recovering from the shoulder injury he sustained during the Champions Trophy semi-final; and Kyle Jamieson has been rested.
The squad includes two uncapped Wellington cricketers, batter Nick Kelly and left-arm-seam-bowling all-rounder Muhammad Abbas, as well as Auckland leg-spinner Adithya Ashok, who played two ODIs and a T20I in 2023.
New Zealand squad for Pakistan ODIs
Tom Latham (c), Muhammad Abbas, Adithya Ashok, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Mitch Hay, Nick Kelly, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Will Young
Muhammad Abbas: From Punjab to Wellington
The son of a farmer, medium-pacer Azhar Abbas played in the Pakistan domestic circuit from 1994/95 to 2003/04. He made it to a long-list for a national squad but missed out on a call-up to the squad. A conversation with former New Zealand international Richard Petrie helped him earn a contract with the Kaori Club in Wellington.
Azhar went on to play first-class cricket for Wellington, then Auckland. He eventually finished with 154 wickets at 25.18 in the format, and also played 22 List A games and seven T20s. He then became a successful coach. A founder of the New Zealand Pace Academy, he is currently the bowling coach of Wellington.
His son, the Lahore-born Muhammad, is a batter who bowls some left-arm seam. By 14, he had hit seven hundreds including two in 20-over cricket. The ODI call-up came on the back of an excellent run in the Ford Trophy, where he had 340 runs (the most for Wellington) at 42.50 to go with five wickets. Incidentally, Kelly, their second-highest run-scorer, has also been picked.
Muhammad’s run culminated in 50 and 3-34, and 104 and 1-59 in the last two games, in February. He has played only three first-class games in the Plunket Shield: he reached 20 in all six innings and picked up six wickets.
