Pakistan's preparations for the T20 World Cup is pretty elaborate. It started with the tour of New Zealand in January this year where they played five T20Is, followed by the Pakistan Super League. They are now set to host New Zealand for another five-match T20I series, tour Ireland for three T20Is, followed by four more 20-over matches against England. Although the upcoming series will be against a primarily second-string New Zealand team, Pakistan will be hoping to gain the most out of it as they build up towards the ICC event to be held in the West Indies and the United States of America from June 1.
NZ TOUR OF PAKISTAN 2024
Pakistan gear up for World Cup with yet another series against NZ
There has been a lot happening off the field, which isn't unusual with Pakistan cricket. © AFP
Change is a constant in Pakistan cricket
This will be Pakistan's third T20I series against New Zealand since 2023. When New Zealand visited the country in April 2023, and drew the series 2-2, Babar Azam was the captain. After their below-par showing in the 50-over World Cup, Babar relinquished the role in all formats and Shaheen Afridi was named the T20I skipper for the tour of New Zealand. This was when Zaka Ashraf was the PCB chairman. Under the new captain, Pakistan ended up losing four games and soon enough Babar was back as skipper, shortly after Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi was elected the new chairman of PCB.
The selection committee has changed with Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq and Wahab Riaz being named in the new panel. And the coaching staff is also different now. Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn, Andrew Puttick and Morne Morkel were with the side in the 2023 World Cup. Mohammad Hafeez was the team director during the Australia and New Zealand tours, with Adam Hollioake, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal also being included in the coaching group. And now, Azhar Mahmood has been unveiled as the new head coach, with Mohammad Yousuf taking over as batting coach, Saeed Ajmal continuing as spin coach and Wahab Riaz being named the team manager.
There has been a lot happening off the field, which isn't unusual with Pakistan cricket. The PCB was even forced to have crisis talks following the reinstatement of Babar, due to a statement attributed to Shaheen which the
