New Zealand starts preparations for first Test in Karachi

The New Zealand squad began training on Friday, a day after arriving in Pakistan, for the first Test of a two-match series against the hosts, which begins on December 26.

The Kiwis, led by skipper Tim Southee, held their first training session at National Bank Cricket Arena.

New Zealand Cricket Team Warm up & Training session#PakvsNz #PakistanCricket #NewZealand pic.twitter.com/sbYbiplOYc

— Ali Hasan (@AaliHasan10) December 23, 2022

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The coaches and team management carefully examined the pitch, which will host its second Test match in less than a week. England won the last Test of the three-match series in Karachi earlier, thrashing the host team by eight wickets in four days.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan team will arrive at the team hotel today and begin training on Saturday.

The Karachi Test begins on Monday and will be the first Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in 20 years. On Sunday, the trophy for the Test series will be unveiled.

Test Squads:

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Zahid Mehmood

New Zealand: Tim Southee (c), Michael Bracewell, Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.