RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — The 2009 champion Pakistan is aiming to tick all the right boxes in its preparation phase ahead of the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup as it gears up for the five-match series under comeback captain Babar Azam against an understrength New Zealand.
Rawalpindi will host the first three games from Thursday. The remaining two games will be staged at Lahore on April 25 and 27 as both squads build up to the world tournament being staged in the United States and Caribbean in June.
Babar returns as white-ball captain and will lead the squad for the third successive T20 World Cup. He replaces Shaheen Shah Afridi, who lost to the Black Caps 4-1 earlier this year in his maiden series as Pakistan’s T20 skipper.
Babar led Pakistan to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in 2021 in the United Arab Emirates, where it lost to eventual champion Australia, and also skippered the side beaten by England at Melbourne in the 2022 edition.
Chinese FM meets with Vietnamese counterpart
Keith McNally strikes again! Razor
Retired general's testimony links private contractor to Abu Ghraib abuses
Analysis: Kyle Larson settling in quickly as preparation continues for Indianapolis 500 debut
Parents of Bobby Maher, 14, watched helplessly as medics tried to save their son
Trump says New York judge won’t let him attend son’s graduation, no ruling has been made
Taylor Swift's New Heights Coachella cap is back in stock
Georgian police fire tear gas to break up protest against so
Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 33,729: Ministry
Son who offered £5,000 on Facebook to anyone would kill his father before punching the 72