After dominating performances against Australia in both the recent Test and T20I series in UAE, Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed is desperate to carry the momentum in the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand in UAE.

It is the more than one month tour for the New Zealand cricket team in UAE where they will play the three-match T20I series, three-match ODI series and three-match Test series respectively against Pakistan. The T20I series is going to start from this Wednesday (October 31) at Abu Dhabi.

Prior to this T20I series, Pakistan first won the two-match Test series against Australia by the 1-0 margin and then whitewashed Australia in the three-match T20I series (won by 3-0).

The no.1 T20I ranked side’s captain Sarfraz Ahmed said on Tuesday, “We want to carry forward the winning momentum of the Australia series.”

Also read: Sarfraz credits the whole team for their dominant T20I series victory against Australia

Sarfraz also added that the experienced Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik will join the team soon for the first T20I of the series against New Zealand. Shoaib Malik, who married the Indian tennis star Sania Mirza in 2010, recently becomes the father after his wife gave a birth to a baby boy.

While Pakistan is the top-ranked T20I team, New Zealand is the fifth-ranked T20I team at present. Sarfraz believes that they have to win the first game of the series as New Zealand is a strong and balanced side.

Sarfraz said, “They (New Zealand) have a strong team with ideal batsmen for Twenty20 and a balanced bowling attack so we need to set the tone from the first game by winning it.”

Meanwhile, the New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is totally aware of their strong opponent, who handed them a 2-1 home T20I series defeat in this January.

Williamson said about Pakistan before the T20I series, “Obviously, Pakistan are a strong side. That’s something we’ve known for a long time. The last time we played against them was at home in New Zealand and it was a tough series. They are extremely strong in these conditions. Their rankings suggest that as well. They have had a lot of success in the format in recent times.”

Also read: Sarfraz compared Fakhar Zaman’s brilliant run-out effort with Jonty Rhodes

Prior to this tour, New Zealand got a huge blow after their opening batsman Martin Guptill has been ruled out from this tour with a calf injury. Guptill is the most runs scorer in the T20I cricket history as he has scored 2,271 runs in 75 matches with the average of 34.40.

Talking about missing Guptill in this tour, Williamson added, “It’s a shame we don’t have Martin for this series. He’s obviously a world class player for us and a big performer.”