To prove their point that Pakistan’s Test series victory against Australia was not just a shot in the dark, Misbah-ul-Haq and his men will go all out against New Zealand to display as much authority as they did when beating Australia to clean sweep the series.

This series starting today here at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium with the first of the three Tests being played on a similar wicket on which Pakistan piled up runs against the Aussies will now pose enormous challenge for them as who they not lost a series to New Zealand since 1985.

Misbah, fresh from his team’s thumping success, will no doubt rely on his match winning combination and would not like to upset the balance by experimenting in the first Test and would prefer to continue from where he left against the Aussies. “We will not like to be reluctant and lazy against New Zealand, we would like to have our basics right and play with as much authority as we did against Australia,” Misbah confided.

The present New Zealand team is not a star-studded outfit like the one Pakistan was faced with the when players of such huge reputation as Richard Hadlee, Danny Morrison, Martin Crowe, Jeff Crowe, Mark Greatbatch, Andrew Jones, John Wright or Ian Smith in the eighties and nineties but they certainly have the potential of making an impression against any opposition.

A drawn series recently against Sri Lanka and a series win against the West Indies in the West Indies leaves us in no doubt that they are in good form and have the capacity to compete at any level and in any country.

The Kiwi coach Shane Bond though admitted that Pakistan will be a tough nut to crack on the dry pitches of the UAE. “This is a good challenge for us. It has been good last year for us and Pakistan are also playing well. This is really going to be real good measure of us as a team and we are looking forward to do well against them,” Bond had said recently. “We are coming in fresh and Pakistan are already fresh from their win against Australia and that is a challenge for us,” Bond stressed.

New Zealand’s only outing so far on this tour has been a three day drawn match against Pakistan ‘A’ which may in a way has given them some feel of the slow and low tracks here.

But their record in Test cricket against Pakistan tilts the balance in favour of the home team. In fifty Tests between them the Kiwis had 23 defeats and that does not reflect well when it comes to taking on Pakistan and that is where lies the strength that Pakistan would like to show.

Published in Dawn, November 9th , 2014