Stuff cricket writer Mark Geenty is going into New Zealand’s series against Pakistan with “low expectations” after their recent trip to Bangladesh.
The Blackcaps have travelled to Pakistan for the first time in 18 years for three One Day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals beginning on Friday.
New Zealand abandoned the test series in 2002 after a suicide bomb attack on a bus outside of the team’s Karachi hotel.
Much like the Bangladesh tour, the Blackcaps are taking a second-string side for the landmark tour which doesn’t fill Geenty with much hope.
“Low expectations. Pakistan are a pretty good side, they’re not just packed with spin either,” Geenty told Mornings with Ian Smith on SENZ.
“They’ve got the usual very good pace attack led by Shaheen Afridi who we’ve seen in New Zealand is an absolute star and can cause some real damage.
“Obviously, with Pakistan having a decent pace attack they’re probably not going to prepare dust-bowls and turning tracks, it looks like it might be better conditions for batting.
“I think the bowling is reasonably solid in New Zealand but we’ve probably got too many pacemen again and just the three spinners.”
Geenty’s real concerns lie in the batting, with no Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor and a very out of sorts Colin de Grandhomme.
“The batting’s going to be a bit of a worry without all the guns there,” Geenty said.
“They’re pretty bare in the batting, Colin de Grandhomme, where does he fit in? He probably has to play if Tom Blundell’s injured, he definitely has to play at number six.
"That’ll be the big watch as to whether he can break out of his awful slump and show any kind of form.
“It’s a pretty green looking top five for the ODIs with no Guptil until the T20s but obviously, Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls are anchoring the batting there which is good.
“They’ve got the base there for a reasonable team but they’re going to have to play absolutely out of their skins to pinch one of these ODIs.
“Finn Allen is going to be interesting to watch and hopefully he can fire in the ODIs alongside Henry Nicholls at the top and give them a real fly. He showed some really good signs against Bangladesh in that last game.
“I’m looking forward to this but expectations aren’t going to be overly high just like in Bangladesh.”
The Blackcaps begin their campaign on Friday in Rawalpindi for the first of three ODIs.