Ther five-match T20I series between Pakistan and New Zealand is scheduled to get underway on January 12 with the opening game set to be played at the Eden Park in Auckland. Pakistan are coming into this series after losing three Tests to Australia down under but will be quietly confident of doing well having dominated the Kiwis in the shortest format. Meanwhile, New Zealand also did well to win the T20I series against Bangladesh at home but not before losing a game for the first time at home against them.
As for the visitors, there is change in leadership with Shaheen Afridi playing as captain for the first time while Mohammad Rizwan has been appointed his deputy. Moreover, it has been reported that former skipper Babar Azam will no more be opening the innings and will bat at number three. Saim Ayub will replace him at the top in that case opening with Rizwan. New Zealand, meanwhile, have nothing much to try even as their skipper Kane Williamson is making a comeback to the T20Is after a long gap. He will be looking forward to getting into the groove as soon as possible with T20 World Cup approaching fast.
Here's all you need to know about the series:
Schedule
1st T20I - January 12, 2024 at Eden Park in Auckland - 11:40 AM IST
2nd T20I - January 14, 2024 at Seddon Park in Hamilton - 11:40 PM IST
3rd T20I - January 17, 2024 at University Oval in Dunedin - 5:30 AM IST
4th T20I - January 19, 2024 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch - 11:40 AM IST
5th T20I - January 21, 2024 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch - 5:30 AM IST
Squads
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt) (except game 3), Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Devon Conway (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson (game 3 only), Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ben Sears (games 1 & 2), Lockie Ferguson (games 3, 4 & 5)
Pakistan: Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt), Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir, Zaman Khan
Live Streaming Details
Live Streaming of the New Zealand vs Pakistan series will be available on Amazon Prime Video.
