Babar Azam set to play his 100th T20I in PAK vs NZ

Pakistani 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.

The right-handed batter will lead the Green Shirts against the Blackcaps today.

Previously, former cricketer Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik played 100+ shorter format games at the international level. Hafeez, who took retirement last year, had played 119 T20Is whereas Malik has played 124 runs.

In 99 T20Is, Babar has scored 3,355 runs at an average of 41.41. 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.

Currently, he is number three in the world in the latest ICC T20I rankings.

Recently, he was given rest alongside senior players including Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Rizwan during the Afghanistan T20I series.

Shadab Khan-led Pakistan's inexperienced squad lost to Afghanistan 2-1 in three-match T20I series.

Babar will resume his regular captaincy role in the T20I series against New Zealand, starting today.

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