Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed celebrates winning the T20 series against the Black Caps in January. Photo / Photosport
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed celebrates winning the T20 series against the Black Caps in January. Photo / Photosport
The Black Caps are all set to face their first challenge of the new season as they take on Pakistan in the first of three T20Is in UAE tomorrow.
Pakistan is riding high on confidence after dominating a struggling Australian outfit over recent weeks, including a 3-0 series whitewash intheir T20 series.
Under Sarfraz Ahmed's leadership, Pakistan are the number one T20 side in the world and have now won 10 consecutive T20I series beginning with the 1-0 win over England way back in 2016.
Pakistan's demolition of Australia is expected to further strengthen their lead at the top of the ICC T20 rankings.
Pakistan knocked New Zealand off the number one perch last summer after beating the Black Caps in New Zealand. Since then, the Black Caps have dropped to fifth on the T20 standings, but within only two points of Australia and England.
It's bound to be a long and tough tour for Kane Williamson and co and they'll have to be cautious of the match winners Pakistan have.
Here's a list of five Pakistani players the Black Caps will need to keep an eye out for:
Fakhar Zaman
After leading Pakistan to a comprehensive victory over India in the Champions Trophy final, Zaman has proven to be a mainstay in the Pakistani top order.
A left-handed opener with a high back lift, Zaman is an exquisite timer of the ball.
Zaman turned heads with scores of 31, 50, 57 and 114 in his first four ODI innings with a strike rate of 113.
With a blistering knock of 210 of 156 balls against Zimbabwe, Zaman became the 1st Pakistani batsman to score a double hundred in ODIs.
Zaman also proved to be the match-winner in Pakistan's second test victory over Australia with scores of 94 and 66 in his two innings.
Fakhar Zaman. Photo / Getty
Babar Azam
At the age of 22, Azam scored three consecutive hundreds against the West Indies and a 90 in only his third test match against the Black Caps in Hamilton.
Azam is now one of Pakistan's best batsmen in all formats and a potential match-winner on most occasions.
Boasting averages of 51.92 and 56.56 in ODIs and T20Is respectively, Azam has everything in his arsenal to derail the New Zealand bowling attack.
The Pakistani batsman also enjoyed a fantastic series against Australia scoring 131 runs in the two tests and 163 runs in his three T20I appearances.
Hasan Ali
With Mohammad Amir dropped yet again, all the expectations would be on Ali to spearhead Pakistan's bowling attack.
Ali rose to prominence by grabbing two five-fors in his first 15 ODIs.
Ali bowls with a simple action, but what makes the bowler from Lahore lethal is his abilty to bowl tight lines and take wickets in the middle overs.
Hasan Ali was crowned Champions Trophy's player of the tournament after finishing as the highest wicket-taker with 13 scalps.
Ali will be looking to put his underwhelming Asia Cup performances behind him when he comes face to face with Kane Williamson and co.
Pakistan bowler Hasan Ali. Photo / Photosport
Shadab Khan
The pitches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are bound to have a lot presents for the spinners. One spinner who has taken the most advantage of what these tracks have to offer is Khan.
A prodigious turner of the ball, Shadab has the ability of taking wickets while maintainining an excellent economy rate.
The spinner also boasts a very stingy overall economy rate of 4.79 in ODIs and 6.57 in T20Is.
He is quite handy with the bat as well who can play an occasional crucial knock at the death.
Shadab's ability of frequently bowling the wrong'uns doesn't help batsmen pick it up any better – out of the hand or off the track making him a real assest for Pakistan.
Shaheen Shah Afridi
At only 18 years of age, what makes Shaheen Afridi a threat to New Zealand is how little anyone knows about the left-arm pacer.
Afridi is relatively new to the scene and has featured in only 5 T20s and 3 ODIs to date.
But when it comes to talent and skill, Afridi could be Pakistan's dark horse against the Kiwis.
Afridi impressed against Australia with figures of 2/23 and 2/35 which are decent figures for a fast bowler.
Captain Sarfaraz Khan handed him the last over with Australia needing 23 runs to win shows trust the youngster retains.
"I was confident of Shaheen bowling the last over. He may be inexperienced but he showed that he has the capacity to be a big bowler. He bowled well in a tough situation," Sarfaraz said.
