Babar Azam ruled out of T20 against New Zealand

Pakistan captain Babar Azam will not be a part of the squad ahead of the T20I series against New Zealand. The batsman suffered a fracture in his right thumb during a practice session on Sunday.

The second-ranked T20I batsman, according to ICC rankings, has sustained the injury during a throw-down session. After the session, Azam was taken to a local hospital where his X-Ray results established a fracture. 

As per his reports, Babar Azam will not be able to attend net sessions for a minimum of 12 days. This results in ruling him out of the three T20Is that will be on 18th, 20th, and 22nd December. All the three venues for the matches will be Auckland, Hamilton, and Napier, respectively.

During this time, medical experts will continue monitoring his thumb before confirming his participation in the first Test. The first match is to commence at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, on December 26, 2020.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam sustained the injury just a day after Imam-ul-Haq fractured his left thumb. He also injured his thumb during a throw-down session. Imam has also advised a 12-day rest. His availability is still not confirmed for the four-day match against New Zealand-A, which starts on December 17.

The Pakistan side will also miss the services of Shadab Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq

Vice-captain Shadab Khan is also struggling with a groin niggle. His injury limited his participation in Sunday's net sessions to batting only. Shadab's availability will be known during the first T20 match in the Auckland T20I.

Misbah-ul-Haq who spoke to Babar regarding the injury said that he is sad to miss the T20I series. The batsman was keenly looking forward to the series. He also added that Pakistan has a long season of cricket ahead and the management is hoping that the captain regains complete fitness. With this, Azam can return to competitive cricket as soon as possible.

Pakistan squad for New Zealand T20Is

Shadab Khan (C), Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hafeez, Hussain Talat, Abdullah Shafique, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Rizwan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Faheem Ashraf, Musa Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Qadir.

Pakistan squad for New Zealand' A' four-day match

Rohail Nazir (C), Abid Ali, Amad Butt, Azhar Ali, Danish Aziz, Imran Butt, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Naseem Shah,  Shan Masood, Mohammad AbbasSohail Khan, Yasir Shah, Zafar Gohar, and Zeeshan Malik.

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