14-day quarantine in New Zealand might be a ‘blessing in disguise’: Masood

Pakistan opener Shan Masood believes that the 14-day quarantine period in New Zealand could be a blessing in disguise for the touring party, bearing in mind the fact that the players were continuously playing cricket for the past couple of months.

While speaking during a virtual press conference from Queenstown, the left-handed batsman backed the Men in Green to do well on the tour despite lack of preparation time.

“The things [training and playing cricket] you have been doing for so many years won’t be affected just because you were away from it for 14 days. There is slight rustiness in your skills and fitness but thankfully Test team will get more preparation time as our first Test is on December 26 and we also have a first-class match against New Zealand A before that. The T20 team is also preparing in Queenstown and they also played an intra-squad practice match today,” said Masood.

“We have been playing continuous cricket since England tour, so I think maybe this would be a blessing in disguise as players got much-needed rest,” he added.

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He also opened up about conditions in New Zealand while also praising the home side’s bowling attack.  

“These pitches here will offer bounce and lateral movement and obviously New Zealand have a world class fast-bowling attack. But you need to accept these challenges in international cricket and we are eagerly waiting to check where we stand against such a bowling attack. Hopefully, the team will put up a good show in the series,” he said.

The Pakistan men’s national team is scheduled to play three T20Is on December 18, 20 and 22, and the ICC World Test Championship fixtures are scheduled to be held in Mount Maunganui and Christchurch on December 26-30 and January 3-7, respectively.

Speaking about South Africa’s first tour of Pakistan in 14 years, January 2021, Masood said: “South Africa touring Pakistan is a great news as it will encourage other top teams to also visit Pakistan. Hopefully the matches will take place in front of fans.”