New Zealand likely to tour Pakistan for limited-overs series before T20 World Cup 2021

New Zealand are most likely to tour Pakistan for a limited-overs series as a preparatory plan for the upcoming T20 World Cup. The Black Caps last toured the Asian country back in 2003 when they were whitewashed in a five-match ODI series.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are currently in talks regarding the bilateral series. David White, the NZC chief executive, put forth the development.

“Our intention is to tour Pakistan, and we’re working through that with [the PCB], 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.

Hectic schedule ahead for New Zealand

In the next 12 months, the Kiwis are faced with a chock-a-block schedule. Apart from the Pakistan tour and the T20 World Cup, New Zealand are set to play nine matches in the World Test Championship (WTC).

Moreover, a few of their players, including Kane Williamson, Lockie Ferguson among others are set to take part in the second leg of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL). Earlier, it was confirmed that the Black Caps’ players would take part in the tournament.

“There’s a lot of moving parts right now, but ideally we would allow our guys to play in the IPL,” White said while speaking about the Kiwis’ participation in the T20 event.

New Zealand, recently, won their first ICC trophy after a gap of 21 years. The Williamson-led unit got home the inaugural WTC trophy after defeating India in the final by eight wickets at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Kyle Jamieson became the Player of the Match for his all-round show.

On Saturday, June 26, 11 out of 15 members of the Kiwis’ squad landed in Auckland and are undergoing a mandatory 14-day quarantine period. As many as 22 players took part in the WTC and would get combined prize money of $2.27 million.

If divided equally, everyone will get $103,000 each. “It goes to the players, which is great, US$1.6 million. I’d imagine they [team management] would be divvying that up on a pro-rata basis,” White added.