Challenges for Both Teams as New Zealand and Pakistan Face Off in the ODI Series with the World Cup Looming
The T20I series between Pakistan and New Zealand proved to be a lesson for Pakistan. Even though the fans and media urged the team to experiment as it “doesn’t matter”, New Zealand’s comeback from a 2-0 deficit in the series proved that everything matters in cricket. After playing the T20 World Cup final just five months ago, following up a series loss to Afghanistan with a split series against New Zealand, who didn’t play their best players, raises concerns for Pakistan.
However, both teams have little time to dwell on their past performances as the five-game ODI series coming up holds immense importance. This series is one of the last chances for both teams to practice in real-match situations before the ODI World Cup later this year. While New Zealand is still missing some of its regular players, Pakistan needs to address its own issues even though this is the format they are most consistent in.
Pakistan and New Zealand are set to face each other in a five-match ODI series. Pakistan will use the series to prepare for the ODI World Cup later in the year, while New Zealand will test its bench strength as they are without some of their key players. The last time Pakistan played in fewer ODIs between two World Cups was in the 1979-1983 cycle, and scheduling has hit them especially hard during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this, Pakistan has a strong ODI side, boasting a top three that could hold its own against any in-world cricket and offering more consistency in this format than any other. New Zealand, on the other hand, is in a better space with much less pressure and fewer expectations, but any team would wish to have its full squad available this close to a World Cup. New Zealand is encouraged by how well some of the reserve players held up against Pakistan in the T20I series and will use the incentive to hit another level and book a spot at that tournament.
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