Mitchell Santner has been ruled out of the first T20I between New Zealand and Pakistan at Auckland due to testing positive for COVID-19. This setback for the hosts is significant, as Santner, a key all-rounder for the Blackcaps, won’t be traveling with the team and has been instructed to isolate himself. New Zealand Cricket stated that Santner will be closely monitored over the next few days and will travel alone to his home in Hamilton. His absence in the match could pose a challenge for the hosts, given his proficiency with both bat and ball.

For those looking to watch the PAK vs NZ T20I series, live telecast will not be available in India. However, Indian viewers can stream the series live on Amazon Prime Video and FanCode apps. The squads for the match include Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, and Tim Southee for the Black Caps, and Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Aamir Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir, and Zaman Khan for Pakistan.