Mohammad Rizwan asked to be dropped for Pakistan's two-match Test series against New Zealand as he felt he "didn't deserve to play" on his form.

The wicket-keeper-batter was a surprise omission from the hosts' squad for their pair of games over the new year period with the Black Caps.

Rizwan was replaced by former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, who returned to the red-ball fold for the first time since 2019, and was named player of the series with 335 runs.

Reflecting on his absence, the 30-year-old has disclosed that it was at his own instigation he was left out, as he felt his performances had not been up to the level required.

"You can ask the head coach Saqlain Mushtaq what I told him after the end of the England Test series," Rizwan told Cricket Pakistan in an interview.

"I personally thought that since I wasn't able to perform, I didn't deserve to play in the next series."

Following a score of 104 not out against Australia in March last year, Rizwan failed to make a half-century in his following six Test appearances.

When that run culminated with a rough series against England shortly before Christmas, he acknowledged he was not matching his own standards, and was delighted to see his replacement flourish.

"I was happy to see Sarfaraz perform because that is what I wanted," he added.

"Sarfaraz has been performing in domestic cricket and deserves his chance now.

"I asked for his inclusion. Whoever performs best for Pakistan deserves to play. Some players said that every player goes through this phase, and you can't sit on the bench based on few failures.

"But I went to the coach and captain myself and told them that you can drop me because I haven't performed.

"Two players are witnesses to this conversation."

Sarfraz Ahmed believes his century on the final day of the second Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi was the best of his career.

It was not enough to secure what would have been an unlikely win, though, with stumps on day five agonisingly called for bad light despite the hosts being just 15 runs short of their target, while New Zealand only needed one more wicket for victory.

Pakistan had been struggling on 80-5 as they chased a target of 319, but Sarfraz's terrific knock of 118 was ably supported by Saud Shakeel (32), who later added another partnership of 70 with Agha Salman (30) to almost take the win before the umpires called it with Pakistan on 304-9.

It was the fourth hundred of Sarfraz's Test career, justifying the decision to call him back into the team for this series, and he said after the draw: "Definitely I have more hundreds, but this was [my] fourth innings hundred and in the fourth innings. It is not easy to bat anywhere in the world, so I think this is my best hundred."

Sarfraz has an average of 38.85 from 51 Test appearances since his debut in 2010, and is just eight runs short of 3,000 as he ended the series with a total of 335 runs from four innings.

"I have been there with the team for four years and unfortunately I did not get a chance," he added. "But whatever cricket came my way, my effort was to keep playing my game and keep giving performances and if Allah wants then I would get an opportunity and I did get an opportunity.

"My state of mind wasn't very good when I came to bat the first time [in the series]. I was very tense, there was a lot of nerves. But the captain gave me a lot of confidence and the boys in the team gave me a lot of confidence. I backed my form from domestic cricket and had a good performance."

Michael Bracewell took 4-75, including the vital wickets of Sarfraz and Shakeel as New Zealand looked to close in on a win that would have secured them the series, which ended tied as both Tests culminated in draws.

Black Caps captain Tim Southee was in reflective mood, though, and praised Sarfraz for his defiance with the bat.

"We got ourselves to push for a win, but the way Sarfraz played sort of took the game away from us," he said. "It was a funny game, we saw in the end it was still up for grabs. 

"We knew from the nature of the surface that things could happen late in the Test, Sarfraz was probably the difference, we could've won had we got them [out] earlier."

Sarfraz Ahmed, Haider Ali and Fakhar Zaman have been included in a revised Pakistan squad for the T20 World Cup.

The 34-year-old Sarfraz replaces Azam Khan for the upcoming tournament two years after he was sacked as captain.

Haider takes Mohammad Hasnain's spot, while fellow batter Fakhar comes into the 15-man squad at the expense of Khushdil Shah.

The selectors opted to tinker with the initial squad they named after keeping a close eye on performances in the National T20 Cup.

Sohaib Maqsood has retained his place after there were doubts over his participation due to a back injury.

The batter underwent an MRI scan this week but has been cleared to travel for the tournament in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Pakistan start their quest for T20 glory with a mouthwatering Group 2 clash against fierce rivals India at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 24.

Pakistan squad:

Babar Azam (captain) Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood.