New Zealand likely to tour Pakistan for limited overs series ahead of World T20 - Reports

To fine-tune their preparations for the World T-20, New Zealand are likely to tour Pakistan before the marquee event. The Blackcaps last visited Pakistan in 2003 where they were clean swept by the hosts in the five-match ODI series. New Zealand Cricket Board (NCZ) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are in talks regarding the bilateral series. The development was confirmed by David White, chief executive of NZC.

Advertisment

“Our intention is to tour Pakistan, and we’re working through that with , and Government agencies. All going well, ensuring that we satisfy all the security arrangements which I’m confident we will do, we will be touring Pakistan,” White was quoted as saying in stuff.co.nz.

Meanwhile, the inaugural Test Champions, New Zealand have a packed schedule ahead. Apart from the Pakistan tour and World T20, Kiwis will also be playing nine Test matches as part of the World Test Championship. Some of the New Zealanders will also be part of the second leg of Indian Premier League.

“There’s a lot of moving parts right now, but ideally we would allow our guys to play in the IPL,” White said.

The T20 World Cup, which is scheduled in India, is likely to shift to UAE. Earlier, the BCCI moved the second leg of IPL to UAE as well. Apart from the three venues in UAE, two venues in Oman can also be used for the tournament. The venues in Oman can host the qualifiers so that the pitches in UAE does not get exhausted as we move to the business end of the tournament.

“Due to the Covid situation in the country, we may shift the ICC T20 World Cup scheduled in India to UAE. Currently, we are monitoring the situation closely. Health and safety of players are paramount for us. We will take the final call soon,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah told Prasar Bharati’s Twitter handle.