The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has sped up the process to select the final squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand scheduled to start from September 17.

The selectors met at the National High-Performance Center, sources said. Furthermore, the selection committee also got in touch with the all-format skipper Babar Azam.

The selectors also contacted Musbah-ul-Haq, the head coach of the national team, who is currently in Jamaica.

The sources further added that the final selection of the squad is being carried out according to the guidelines of the new chairman PCB Rameez Raja. All concerned personals are constantly in touch with Raja.

Raja is holding board meetings with its members. They all agreed to announce to the squad soon.

The national squad will go under coronavirus testing on September 5, according to sources, ahead of their ODI series against Blackcaps that will start on September 17.

Earlier this month, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) gave a green signal to the NZ team for the tour to Pakistan after 18 years. This decision came after NZC showed satisfaction over Reg Dickason’s pre-tour security report.

The NZ national team will depart after they complete the T20I series against Bangladesh. They will arrive in Pakistan on September 11.

Blackcaps will go head-to-head with Pakistan in three ODIs in Rawalpindi and five T20Is in Lahore. The tour will come to end on October 3.

Blackcap’s last tour to Pakistan in 2002 was cut short after a bomb exploded outside the hotel in Karachi on the first morning of the second Test. They returned the following year to play the ODI series, but have not returned since the ODI series.

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