Ever since the tournament was announced, top cricket stadiums of Pakistan went under renovation. PCB has been working hard to transform these stadiums into the finest around globe so as to make sure the participating teams can play their game with quality and perfection.
First match of the tournament will be played between Pakistan and New zealand in Karachi. Currently, Pakistan stands on third position in the ODI ranking and New Zealand is at 5th position – giving the former team a competitive edge for the upcoming battle.
New Zealand will have Kane Willamson, Tim Southee , Trent Bolt, Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Kyle Jamieson, Glen Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Locke Ferguson, James Nesham, Mitchel Santner, Fin Allen and Rachin Ravindra in their squad. While Pakistan will have Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam , Muhammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan Niazi , Kamran Ghulam, Shaheen shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf and Salman Ali Agha as part of their playing eleven.
Every team has to play 3 matches to qualify for the next round and win at least two of them. Therefore, both teams will try to win this match because their next match is scheduled against India. Given that India is a very strong team, it will be very tough for both of them to defeat them.
The National Stadium has been renovated for the champions trophy and an ICC event of such a level being played in Pakistan will bring the crowd to the stands. We expect to see a houseful on the first day of the tournament.
Pakistan and New zealand have played 116 matches in total, out of which Pakistan has won 61 matches while New Zealand has won 51 matches. This would be an interesting encounter for cricket fans around the world.
