Pakistan's biggest test

With less than a day left till the first ODI of Pakistan's limited overs series against New Zealand, I am truly excited to hopefully witness an incredible series.

Both New Zealand and Pakistan have been the two in form ODI teams in past times with the tourists having won the most recent ICC tournament in the Champions Trophy. Moreover, they also mauled Sri Lanka 8-0 in both ODIs and T20s in the scorching pitches of the UAE. But also, New Zealand have been the form side as well by defeating a weak West Indies side without conceding a loss in their tour.

I believe that when looking at this series there is no clear favourite as to who will come out on top. There is no doubt that New Zealand will have the slight edge on the tourists but not by too much as both teams are very different in approach and capacity.

When looking at Pakistan prior to the Champions trophy, they were seen as a team with plenty of firepower, but a lack of performance and an unreliable reputation. However, beating South Africa in the Champions trophy after being destroyed by India, Pakistan has been on a brutal winning streak. With 12 consecutive limited over wins under their belt, there is no doubt that this is a transformed team that is asserting itself out onto the big stage. Despite some inspiring inclusions into the batting departing including Babar Azam and Fakhr Zaman, it has been Pakistan's bowling attack that has completely dismantled every team that it has come across in recent times.

In my mind, I view the bowling line-up that Pakistan has as being the best in the world across all formats of the game because of the pace, variety, skill and aggression that each of them displays out on the field. When looking at the likes of Mohammad Amir, Junaid Khan, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Usman Khan, Ruman Raees and Fahim Ashraf and the form that they are in, their is simply no let up in that bowling squad. I think that this series for Pakistan is going to be one of the biggest selection dilemmas the team has experienced, simply due to the fantastic form that all the bowlers have been in. Furthermore, Pakistan's openers will too have a major selection issue, but a good one as all the other substitute batsmen have all posted centuries, hence the bench will be extremely strong.

It is not only the bowling that Pakistan has, their batting too is getting better by the game. The emergence of Sharjeel Khan onto the big stage certainly caught the cricketing world off balance. In particular, Khan's aggression down under had the Australians with no answers and were made to look pretty ordinary. But his suspension was soon replaced by Champions Trophy star Fakhr Zaman who too took the world by storm with an outstanding century in the final against India. In addition, the purpose and intent that the Pakistani batsmen show now is something that I haven't witnessed in a long time. Pakistan was not seen as being a team that was able to compile scores in excess of 280, however, with an improved coaching unit and more intent in the team, they have also become a highly prolific batting team. But the foundation of the team is built upon the batting of Babar Azam who I see as being among Virat Kohli as one of the best ODI batsmen going around the world today. With an average of over 60 his contribution in scoring hundreds and laying the foundation is going to be critical to Pakistan's success.

Overall, whilst I do see on a broader view that New Zealand start as favourites due to home advantage, however, I do believe that Pakistan's pace and spin attack is much more versatile and dynamic than the hosts'. Hence, I predict that Pakistan should win the series overall in both ODIs and T20s. With Hasan Ali to star with the ball and Babar Azam with the bat in the first game. I believe that this contest will be Pakistan's bowling against New Zealand's batting, hence the tourists will want to bat first and have a total to defend.

Considering that Pakistan sent the New Zealand XI into oblivion in the most recent practice match, I would not be suprised that the same XI will take the field. The Pakistan team that I would expect to take the field in the first ODI would be:

MY PAKISTAN STARTING XI: Azhar Ali, Fakhr Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk) (c), Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Ruman Raees, Imam ul Haq (12th Man)