Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, will play the opening T20I of the five-match series tonight in Lahore, making him the third Pakistani to play 100 T20Is.
Today’s game between the Green Shirts and the Blackcaps will be led by the right-handed hitter.
Mohammad Hafeez, a former cricketer, and Shoaib Malik have played more than 100 shorter format games at the international level. Malik has played 124 runs compared to Hafeez’s 119 T20Is before he retired last year.
Babar has scored 3,355 runs at an average of 41.41 in 99 T20Is. His career totals to date include 30 fifties and 200. He has also consistently held the top spot among batters in Twenty20 internationals.
According to the most recent ICC T20I rankings, he is now ranked third in the world.
During the Afghanistan T20I series, he recently received respite along with veteran players Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Rizwan.
In a three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, Pakistan’s inexperienced team, captained by Shadab Khan, was defeated 2-1.
In the T20I series against New Zealand, which begins today, Babar will assume his usual leadership duties once more.
Squads
Pakistan: 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
New Zealand: Tom Latham (c), Mark Chapman, Matt Henry, Cole McConchie, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Ish Sodhi, Will Young, Chad Bowes, Dane Cleaver, Ben Lister, Adam Milne, James Neesham, Henry Shipley, Blair Tickner