Pakistan's Struggles Continue in New Zealand
Author: Tom Penn
Updated At:
Any tour of a country which begins with a nine wicket defeat is a poor start, but when it's a T20I fixture and the opposition still had 59 balls remaining - their worst defeat in of balls left in the format - it really highlights the problems within Pakistan cricket at the moment!
Across all formats, the 'Men in Green' have won only two of their last ten fixtures, a run which stretches back to Boxing Day, and have lost the other eight. As hosts, they were knocked out of the ICC Champions Trophy at the group stage, and Sunday's opening game in Christchurch saw the tourists bowled out for 91.
One of the issues for Pakistan is that the team they are up against in this series is far from New Zealand's best XI. Mitchell Santner, who captained the side to the final of the Champions Trophy, is preparing for this year's Rachin Ravindra, pacer Lockie Ferguson and the relatively unheard-of Bevon Jacobs also ready to take on the world's best in the tournament.
We take a look into Pakistan's recent struggles and explore whether their fans can expect much of an improvement across the remaining four T20Is and subsequent three ODIs in New Zealand.
Pakistan's recent form
Pakistan ended 2024 with a busy schedule but in decent form, enjoying a Test series win over England, beating both Australia and South Africa in away ODI series, as well as succeeding in T20I and ODI series in Zimbabwe.
15th October - 22nd December, across all formats
| Played 19 | Won 11 | Lost 8 |
But following Christmas Day, the results have been on a downward spiral!
26th December - 16th March, across all formats
| Played 10 | Won 2 | Lost 8 |
There was plenty of excitement ahead of Pakistan hosting the 2025 Champions Trophy but they were beaten by New Zealand and India before their dead rubber against Bangladesh was abandoned.
How Strong is this New Zealand Squad?
They may be lacking some of the above names who are IPL bound, as well as the likes of Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult, all stars from the previous decade, not to mention Matt Henry who has been the standout bowler in the world so far in 2025 and is currently sidelined through injury, but this is still a very strong New Zealand squad, particularly at home!
Let's not forget that New Zealand have a very strong record over recent years:
- 2019 World Cup runners-up
- 2021 T20 World Cup runners-up
- 2019-2021 ICC World Test Championship winners
- 2023 World Cup semi-finalists
- 2024 Away Test series victory in India
They also have plenty of quality in the squad for this T20I series against Pakistan with world class players like Daryl Mitchell, captain Michael Bracewell, Kyle Jamieson and Jacob Duffy all at their disposal.
What can Pakistan do?
Bouncing back from a nine-wicket humiliation in Christchurch will not be easy for Salman Agha's side, but they should at least see better returns from their top five after ducks for both openers and only four runs from Irfan Khan at four and Shadab Khan at five.
With this series and tour still relatively fresh, perhaps they should focus on getting their strongest bowling unit on the field for this game. Shaheen Shah Afridi went wicketless on Sunday but Haris Rauf was rested and that is a luxury which the team can ill-afford right now!
Big names like Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will return for the ODI series, but Pakistan must ensure that they do not arrive to find their team-mates licking their wounds following a 5-0 T20I series defeat.
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