NZ Vs PAK Dream11 Team Prediction, Match Preview, Fantasy Cricket Hints: Captain, Probable Playing 11s, Team News; Injury Updates For Today’s New Zealand Vs Pakistan 1st T20I In Auckland, 1140AM IST, January 12

New Zealand and Pakistan are going to start the five-match T20I series in Auckland on Friday as the two teams aim to build a strong squad for the T20 World Cup 2024. All eyes will be on new Pakistan captain Shaheen Afridi who will be leading the Men in Green for the first time ever. After the ODI World Cup debacle, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made Shaheen the T20I captain as he replaced Babar Azam. Shaheen has won Pakistan Super League (PSL) trophy as captain for Lahore Qalandars but his real test will be with the national team.

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Talks are on that T20I opening pair of Babar and Mohammad Rizwan could be broken as Shaheen wants to try out Saim Ayub at the top. It is expected that Saim and Ayub are going to open the innings with Babar coming in to bat at No 3 spot. It will be fascinating to see how Aamer Jamal goes in this series after his outstanding performance in the Test series vs Australia.

New Zeland look a strong side with all bases covered. Williamson will lead the pack and at home, they start as favourites. Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway will be players to watch out for while it will also be interesting to see how spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner go in the series. Iftikhar Ahmed of Pakistan will be eyeing big sixes in the match too as the boundaries are very short in most of the grounds in New Zealand.  

Today’s Best Pick and Fantasy Cricket Tips for NZ vs PAK Dream11 Team:

Wicketkeepers: Devon Conway, Mohammad Rizwan(vc)

Batters: Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips

Allrounders: Mitchell Santner, Iftikhar Ahmed, Aamer Jamal(c)

Bowlers: Tim Southee, Shaheen Shah Afridi

NZ vs PAK Probable Playing XIs

New Zealand: Tim Seifert, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Mohammed Nawaz, Aamer Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Wasim Jr.

NZ vs PAK: Squads

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee

Pakistan: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Azam Khan, Shaheen Afridi (c), Haris Rauf, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Abrar Ahmed, Abbas Afridi, Usama Mir, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Zaman Khan, Haseebullah Khan, Aamer Jamal, Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed