Cricket News: New Zealand will visit Pakistan twice in five months

The cancellation of the previous tour and Kiwis taking a unilateral approach left many veteran Pakistan players and board members frustrated. But now things seem to be on a better note for both teams. 

"New Zealand and Pakistan share a terrific history in international cricket and there is genuine respect between the two teams as well as the two boards," David White, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive, said in a statement.

"The recent tours from Australia and England have left us in no doubt regarding the quality of the Pakistan side across all formats, and the extent of the challenge that awaits us."

On Monday Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed that New Zealand would tour Pakistan twice in five months to play two tests, eight one-day internationals and five T20Is.  

"New Zealand is one of the high-performing sides and the more we will play against the top teams in our backyard, the better we will get as a unit, which is crucial to our objective of featuring inside the top three across all formats," PCB director, Zakir Khan said.

The two test matches will be part of the World Test Championship, which will be played in Karachi from 27-31 December and in Multan from 4-8 January. The three ODIs that will be part of the ICC World Cup Super League will also be hosted in Karachi from 11-15 January. 

After January, New Zealand will return to Pakistan in April to play four T20Is at Karachi from 13-19 April. The fifth T20I and two ODIs will be played from 23-28 April at Lahore, and the remaining ODIs will be played at Rawalpindi from 1-7 May. 

Will India travel to Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup?

Per the FTP, Pakistan has been granted hosting rights for two major tournaments- 50-over format Asia Cup 2023 and ICC Champions Trophy 2025. This was a massive development for Pakistan as they hosted an ICC tournament in 1996. 

Due to strained political relationships between the two countries, these hosting rights have jeopardised India's chances of participating in the tournaments. Though both the teams play against each other in ICC and ACC events, they don't play any bilateral series. 

While other teams toured Pakistan for bilateral series, a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009 halted any international game on their soil for a long time. 

History of significant events and what lies in future

When India hosted the Asia Cup in 1990-91, Pakistan boycotted the event due to strained political relations and the 1993 tournament was also cancelled for the same reason. If India takes the same route, history can be seen repeating.

Given the power that BCCI has in ICC and ACC to influence decisions, it is very likely that the Asia Cup 2023 and ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will be shifted out of Pakistan to a neutral venue. Last year PCB chief Ramiz Raja said that the BCCI runs the entire ICC. 

"The PCB gets 50 percent of its funding from the ICC. The ICC conducts tournaments and the income generated from them is distributed among its member boards," Raja told the Senate Standing Committee.

He added, "Now, 90 percent of the ICC funding is generated from the Indian market. In other words, Indian business houses are running Pakistan cricket. If tomorrow, the Indian Prime Minister decides that they will not fund Pakistan cricket, there's a possibility that the PCB can collapse."

There are speculations that either venue would be changed or India would withdraw from the tournament, whereas some would hope that India will break the almost 18-year hiatus. So the final verdict will only be told on time, and then the statement would become more definitive.