Babar Azam's main opening partner ruled out of NZ tour due to COVID-19 symptoms

Even before the Pakistan cricket team took flight for New Zealand, they received a major blow, when Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that opener Fakhar Zaman has been pulled out of the squad. The decision was taken by PCB as a precautionary measure after the cricketer developed potential COVID-19 symptoms recently.

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Zaman was slated to open the batting for the Pakistan team led by Babar Azam in the shortest format of the game and with him no longer travelling with the team, Abdullah Shafique and Haider Ali are likely to be frontrunners to partner captain Babar Azam at the top of the order. Pakistan have not named a replacement yet for Fakhar Azam for the three T20Is that they are scheduled to play against New Zealand.

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Fakhar Zaman to miss New Zealand tour 

The PCB announced in a press release that Zaman tested COVID-19 negative as recently as Saturday, but after developing a fever while isolating with the rest of the team at a hotel in Lahore, he was left out as a precautionary measure. Fakhar Zaman has played 3 Tests, 47 ODIs and 40 T20 internationals for his country.

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Both Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman recently participated in the Pakistan Super League which was won by Karachi Kings.  Kings beat the Qalandars by 5 wickets to be crowned champions. Apart from being named as the Pakistan Super League winners, Karachi Kings' star Babar Azam was named as the Pakistan Super League's player of the tournament, while Lahore Qalandars' Zaman was named as the Best Fielder of the PSL 2020 as he finished the tournament with 10 catches to his credit. Haider Ali was declared as the Emerging Player of the PSL 2020.

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New Zealand vs Pakistan 2020

Coming to the New Zealand vs Pakistan 2020 series, all 34 players and 15 officials who are a part of the Pakistan senior and A squads, left for Auckland on Monday via Dubai and will remain under 14-day quarantine and isolation before being allowed to move out of a bio-secure bubble since New Zealand is a Covid-19 free country.

Both the teams will start the series by competing in the three-match T20I series between December 18 and 22, following which they will play in a two-Test match series which is a part of the ICC World Test Championship. The 1st Test will get underway on Boxing Day followed by the 2nd and final match of the tour starting on January 3.

Image: ICC/ Twitter