Pakistan is going to embark on the New Zealand Series on the 26th of this month. The tour includes two Twenty20s, two Tests and six one-dayers. This is the final series before the world cup.
Pakistan cricket board has finally announced the national squad to play against the Kiwi’s. It is to be noted, new Zealand series is the last chance for the Pakistani squad to prove their mettle against one of the most resilient and tough cricketing side of the world. Besides being known for their ability to “punch above their strength”, there have been a “complete whitewash”, as Intikhaab Alam explained to the media, of defeats for the kiwi’s in the recently held tournaments. New Zealand has been struggling to muster up their efforts to grab a big win in the recent past, but all in vain. The side has not been able to earn a big title in the recent past.
It has been a very long time since their last victory. The side has faced 11 one-day defeats in a row. This spree of defeats has been one of the longest losing streaks for the New Zealand side. The side has been battered with comments like “lack of commitment” by some of the renowned watchdogs of the cricket world. The fiasco in Bangladesh and failure in India are the not-so-easily forgotten blots on their capabilities to prove their capability to take Pakistan heads-on. Even the player, Daniel Vettori, has termed the recent last tour of India as “the worst tour for me [him] as a New Zealand cricketer. That hurts a lot and it’s embarrassing”.
It has been said that Pakistan’s side is confident to deliver a tough fight in good cricketing spirit for a possible re-incarnation of the mercurial soul before losing any further opportunity. Success in this tournament is too important for the Pakistani side to gain confidence as the onset of the cut throat competition for big cup is yet to begin. It is very difficult for the Pakistani team to get ample time for practice, so this series is also going to be important from the perspective that it will gauge player’s capability to put up decent fight in the world cup.
Intikhaab Alam, Pakistan cricket team coach has stated in an interview that a lot of emphasis has been given to the physical fitness of the shortlisted players. He said that inadequate fitness has been a bottleneck for the Pakistan cricket team to prove their worth in the recent past. Given the lack of time for further selection of the candidates on the basis of performance in the upcoming New Zealand series, it has been decided that the shortlisted team will remain the same for the World Cup too.
It is to be noted that Salman Butt, former captain and an opening batsman is not available because of his involvement in the corruption case. Muhammed Asif and Muhammed Amir will also remain to be unavailable because of the pending cases against them. The pair could prove to be deadly combination against the world best batting sides.
Beside the fact that both the teams have been battered with humiliating losses in the recent past, this series is going to be worth-watching as the two sides try to hammer each other to mitigate the ills of their pains they have come to gather in this last season. For Pakistan, it is of utmost importance to bring the game to life, both nationally as well as internationally. This is the final chance to give Pakistani nation a source of optimism for the World Cup, which it desperately needs.
