In the Pakistan Vs New Zealand game, skipper Babar Azam will become the third Pakistani to play 100 T20Is after playing the first T20I of the five-match series tonight in Lahore.
Previously, former cricketers Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik played surpassed100 shorter format games at the international level. Hafeez, who retired last year, had played 119 T20Is while Malik has played 124 runs.
Babar Azam has scored 3,355 runs at an average of 41.41 in his 99 T20Is. He has scored 30 fifties and two hundred during his career so far. He has also remained the number one T20I batter for a long period of time.
The right-handed batter who will lead the Green Shirts against the Blackcaps today is currently number three in the world in the latest ICC T20I rankings.
Hopefully, Babar will lead Pakistan to a win after a reserve team lost a T20 series 2-1 to Afghanistan.
New Zealand who just defeated Sri Lanka in a T20 series decided to leave the man behind that success – Tim Seifert – at home. They are also depleted through players being at the IPL: Devon Conway, Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Tim Southee, Trent Boult. Kane Willaimson and Kyle Jamieson are injured.
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