New Zealand will take on visiting Pakistan in the upcoming T20I series, in what is seen as the beginning of preparation for the T20 World Cup 2024. The first match of the series will take place at Eden Park in Auckland pn January 12.
New Zealand will play their first T20I series in lead up to the T20 World Cup 2024. The upcoming series will see the return of skipper Kane Williamson to the shortest. Williamson will play his first T20I match since November 2022.
Kiwis added Tim Seifert and Ben Sears to the 13-member squad. Devon Conway has been rested for the T20I series, while Michael Bracewell, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry are still ruled out as they are yet to recover from respective injuries. Meanwhile, talented all-rounder Rachin Ravindra was not included in the squad. Trent Boult made himself unavailable for the selection for T20I series against Pakistan
For Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi will play his first match after taking captaincy duties in T20I following Babar Azam's resignation from leadership role. Haris Rauf has been included in 17-member squad despite his resistance over his participating in the Test series against Australia.
Uncapped players Abbas Afridi and Haseebullah Khan were added to the squad for the T20I series against New Zealand. Meanwhile, Afridi confirmed that Babar Azam will not open in the series as Pakistan team management is looking to experiment new opening pair in lead up to the World Cup.
When and Where will be all matches played?
The T20I series opener will take place at Eden Park in Auckland. The second T20I will be played at Seddon Park in Hamilton on January 14, followed with third match at University Oval in Dunedin on January 17. The final two matches of the series will happen at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on January 19 and 21, respectively.
What time match will start?
The all five matches of the T20I series between New Zealand and Pakistan will take place at 11:40 am IST, with toss at 11:10 am.
Where can I live stream all five matches?
The T20I series between New Zealand and Pakistan will exclusively be live streamed on Amazon Prime. The matches will not be broadcasted in other sports channels in India.
Squads for New Zealand vs Pakistan T20I series
NZ: Kane Williamson (C), Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee (VC), Ben Sears.
PAK: Shaheen Afridi (C), Aamir Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (VC), Mohammad Wasim Jr., Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir, Zaman Khan.
