BY all counts, Pakistan so far have had an exemplary year, having performed in every condition, both on their overseas tours and also here in the UAE which has been their adopted cricket home for nearly a decade now.

In Ireland and against England in their own backyard, in Zimbabwe in limited over games against Zimbabwe and Australia and then recently having taken on Australia they have proved that they have not only been a force to be reckoned with but also have developed into a fighting force.

Against New Zealand, their most respected opponents in these conditions here, they have stood up to the challenges on previous occasions and this Test series is not going to be any different.

This will be their last hurrah on their home ground before embarking on another tough assignment to South Africa. Therefore the New Zealand series holds a lot of significance to show to the world that that this has been a season to remember.

Having tested each others’ strength and weaknesses in the limited-over format, both the teams know fully well what they are up against in the series starting today.

Both Kane Willimson and Sarfraz Ahmed expect a tough series depending on how well their team performs.

To tell you the truth the Kiwis have always turned out to be a pain in the neck for Pakistan in Tests which is evident from the history of encounters between the two cricketing nations.

In fact, it was New Zealand against whom Pakistan won their first-ever Test series in 1955 at home after becoming a Test playing nation. Having beaten the visitors at Karachi by an innings and one run, Pakistan drew the Test at Dacca and won again at Lahore by four wickets to win the series 2-0.

The tall Kiwi captain Harry Cave had such illustrious cricketers in his team like left-hander Bert Sutcliffe, John Reid, leg-spinner Jack Alabaster, John Leggat and A.R. McGibbon.

The century makers in that series were Hanif Mohammad at Dacca and S. McGregar at Lahore.

But the most memorable contribution that I remember was when at Lahore in the second Test Imtiaz Ahmed (209) and Waqar Hasan (189) shared a stand of 308 for the sixth wicket after Pakistan had lost half of their team for just 111.

No doubt this series will once again be watched with interest in both the countries as they progress towards greater things to come.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2018