Former Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez on Tuesday (April 9) vented out his anger with a cryptic social media post after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recalled fast bowler Mohammad Amir and left-arm spinner Imad Wasim into the national team.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter, Hafeez wrote: "#RIP Pakistan domestic cricket". His post drew mixed reactions from the Pakistani fans. While some pointed out that Hafeez’s tenure as team director was a failure, others backed his views.

Earlier in the day, PCB announced the 17-member squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand. Amir and Imad’s inclusion headlined the squad picked for the home series.

Notably, both cricketers recently reversed their decisions of retiring from international cricket. While Amir had announced retirement from international cricket in 2020 due to his differences with erstwhile coaches Misbah ul Haq and Waqar Younis, Imad called time on his international career in November last year.

In another big development, the PCB announced former all-rounder Azhar Mahmood as head coach of the national men's team. Mahmood represented Pakistan in 164 matches across formats, claiming 162 wickets and scoring 2,421 runs. He served as the bowling coach from 2016-19.

The PCB also appointed former pacer Wahab Riaz as the senior team manager, while Mohammad Yousuf and Saeed Ajmal were named as the batting coach and spin-bowling coach respectively.

Last month, the PCB sacked Shaheen Afridi from the T20I captaincy and reappointed former skipper Babar Azam to the role in the white-ball formats.

It is worth mentioning here that Babar had relinquished captaincy from all formats shortly after the conclusion of the 2023 World Cup, in which his team failed to qualify for the knockouts.

However, after Mohsin Naqvi was elected as PCB chairman, he overhauled the selection panel and Babar Azam was handed the white-ball captaincy again.

Pakistan squad for New Zealand T20Is:

Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, Zaman Khan.

Non-travelling reserves: Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha.