Security delegation from New Zealand set to visit Pakistan ahead of T20I tour

In a recent development, a security delegation from New Zealand is all set for a trip to Pakistan in order to check up on matters of security and safety before the Kiwi national team heads over to the country for a T20I series, most probably after the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies, which is going to start from June 1 onwards with a clash between co-hosts USA and Canada.

New Zealand who are currently playing an all-format home series against ODI and Test World champions Australia, recently drubbed the Pakistani team under the captaincy of Shaheen Shah Afridi by 4-1 in a 5-match T20I series last month. The Blackcaps had put up a solid performance against the Green army and somehow deliberately lost the final match which saved the visitors from further embarrassment, having been whitewashed previously in a Test series at Australia.

Kiwi delegation set to leave for Pakistan in early March

Trusted internal sources from the Pakistan Cricket Board claimed that the Kiwi delegation spearheaded by security expert Reg Dickason and Blackcaps Players Association senior official Heath Mills, will be heading over to Pakistan in early March to see all the arrangements for the T20 series. They will specifically be checking the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the Rawalpindi Stadium, the venues that will host the series.

“The delegation is due in early March to visit Lahore and Rawalpindi where the matches will probably be held,” an internal source told PTI. 

This will be New Zealand’s 3rd tour of Pakistan since 2022. Their last to last tour saw them visit the land of purity for a T20I and Test series. The Kiwis had also toured Pakistan last year in April for a 5-match T20I series which remained a 2-2 draw. All of those matches took place in Lahore and Rawalpindi and it will be no different this time around as well.

The two cricketing giants have played a lot of bilateral series off late in both of their lands and it marks a gesture of reciprocation. It will be fair to say that no other nation than New Zealand have shown more faith in terms of playing on Pakistani soil.

New Zealand lose T20I series against Australia as they gear up for a 2-match Test series

Meanwhile, the New Zealanders crashed out in front of the mighty Australians in the 3-match T20I series which concluded earlier today with yet another one-sided victory for the visitors. The Aussies under a new captaincy regime of all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, stepped over the Kiwis by 3-0 with a 27-run victory earlier today at the Eden Park in Auckland.

The Trans-Tasman rivals will now gear up for a 2-match Test series as part of their latest assignment in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle. The 1st Test is slated to start from 29th February onwards at the Basin Reserve stadium in Wellington while the Hagley Oval in Christchurch hosts the 2nd Test from 8th March onwards. It will be an interesting Test series and with the type of form Australia are in, they are expected to claim the series.