Pakistan Cricket Board plans tour of New Zealand in November

The Pakistan Cricket Board is planning to send the senior national team and the ‘A’ squad on a tour of New Zealand in November raising concerns that the absence of key players will hit the quality of the domestic tournaments in the country. A PCB source said that the Board is planning to send around 40 to 45 players to New Zealand from late November. “Enhanced number of players will be in both squads due to strict COVID-19 regulations and protocols in New Zealand and the players and officials, after reaching there early, have to spend 14 days in quarantine and enter a bio-secure bubble before starting their matches,” the source said. While the senior team will be involved in a Test, ODI and T20 series against New Zealand, the Pakistan A side has a number of four-day games lined up on the tour. The senior team had to spend around a month in quarantine and in isolation training camps before playing the Test series in England this summer. “The problem is that due to the COVID-19 situation if so many top players are sent to New Zealand, the quality of the domestic competitions will be badly hit,” the source said. The PCB plans to hold the prestigious Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for six provincial teams each in division one and two and a national one-day cup between October and January. All the matches have been scheduled in Karachi which has multiple Test and first-class venues. The source said the board was keen to send its A team to New Zealand to give exposure to upcoming performers as they have not competed at the international level for a while now.