PAK vs NZ, 1st Test: The Pakistan Cricket team are currently playing a home series against New Zealand and they are coming off 4 consecutive Test losses. Against England, Pakistan suffered a massive heartbreak as the visitors inflicted a series loss on them by a margin of 3-0. Babar is the first and as of now the only Pakistan captain to lose 4 consecutive Test matches on home soil. As far as New Zealand is concerned, they haven’t registered a good record either. They are also coming off 4 successive Test losses and both these teams will look to change their fortunes.
The 145-year-old record
In the first Test match that is being played at National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first. Interestingly they have managed to register a feat that has never been achieved in the history of Test cricket. Pakistan batters Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood were the first two wickets to fall. Both batsmen were stumped by New Zealand’s wicketkeeper Tom Blundell. This is the first time in Test cricket history that the first two wickets for any side have fallen courtesy of stumpings.
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As far as the Pakistan team is concerned, there have been loads of changes off the field. Just a day after their 3-0 series loss to England, Ramiz Raja was ousted from the Pakistan Cricket Board and was replaced by Najam Sethi who is now the chairman of the board. Shahid Afridi too earned himself a position in the PCB as the ‘interim chief selector’ of the men’s team. Both New Zealand and Pakistan are looking at this series as a shot at redemption.
Pakistan XI: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Babar Azam (c), Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Agha Salman, Nauman Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Abrar Ahmed, Mir Hamza
New Zealand XI: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell, Tim Southee (c), Ish Sodhi, Neil Wagner, Ajaz Patel
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