Pakistan likely to host New Zealand for a five-match T20I series in April 2024 - Reports

Pakistan is expecting to host New Zealand in a five-match T20I series in April 2024. The Pakistan players are currently playing in the Pakistan Super League 2024 which will conclude on March 18.

After the PSL, New Zealand is expected to tour Pakistan for a five-match T20I series which is expected to commence on April 13 and will conclude on April 23, as per reports in Cricket Pakistan. The five matches will be played in Rawalpindi and Lahore and discussions are already underway between both cricket boards to finalize the schedule for this series.

Pakistan and New Zealand recently clashed in a five-match T20I series in New Zealand and the BlackCaps dominated the Men in Green in the series winning it by 4-1.

Pakistan national cricket team was in shambles after the ODI World Cup exit as they lost the Test series against Australia where they were whitewashed by the Aussies in the three-match Test series and then Shaheen Shah Afridi led the Men in Green for the first time in T20Is and faced a shambolic defeat by 4-1 against New Zealand in the series.

The fifth T20I which was won by Pakistan against New Zealand was the first victory for them after the win against the BlackCaps in the World Cup. The Men in Green have not been able to win games after Babar Azam was asked to step down as the captain of the team. He has been replaced by Shan Masood in Test cricket and Shaheen Afridi in white-ball cricket.

Shaheen Afridi got the job of leading the national team after Lahore Qalandars won two consecutive PSL titles under his leadership. He showed poor leadership in his first series with the national side as he was defeated 4-1 by New Zealand in the five-match T20I series. Now, Pakistan is ready to host New Zealand for a five-match t20I series which will be beneficial for them in the practice of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Pakistan will tour England after hosting New Zealand

The Men in Green are scheduled to tour England in May 2024 for a four-match T20I series commencing on May 22 and will conclude on May 30 just two days before the start of the T20 World Cup. It will be a huge challenge for Shaheen Shah Afridi who will be leading the national side for the first time in an ICC event and the ICC T20 World Cup is a tournament where Pakistan has shown great progress in the last couple of seasons.

Pakistan reached the semi-finals in the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup where they also defeated archnemesis India for the first time in World Cup cricket winning the game by 10 wickets.

In 2022, they reached the finals of the ICC T20 World Cup but lost to England in the finals. The Men in Green will be hoping to win the T20 World Cup this year to get their hands on the coveted T20 World Cup for the second time. However, Shaheen Shah Afridi and company are facing bad form and may have to win a few matches before the World Cup to gain some confidence.