[Watch] Pakistan players enjoy dinner at Dunedin ahead of 3rd New Zealand T20I
The Pakistan men's cricket team went out for dinner at a restaurant in Dunedin ahead of the third T20I on January 17.
Despite trailing 0-2 in the five-match series, the players appeared highly relaxed alongside the coaches and support staff. The superstars, Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi, were seen cracking and laughing at jokes with the other players at the dining table.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) posted a video of the same on their social media handle and captioned it:
"Dinner time vibes. Pakistan team out in Dunedin."
Here is the video of the Pakistan players walking up to the restaurant and enjoying dinner:
Unfortunately for the Men in Green, things have been anything but joyous on the cricket field.
Following their ascend to World No.1 in the ODI ranking in the middle of last year, it has been a downward slide for the side across formats. They failed to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup despite being co-hosts.
The embarrassment continued when Pakistan finished outside the top four in the ODI World Cup, including a shocking defeat to Afghanistan. All this led to Babar Azam stepping down as captain in all formats ahead of the Trans-Tasmanian tours.
However, several personnel changes on and off the field yielded no turn of fortunes as they suffered a horrific 3-0 defeat in the recent Test series against Australia.
Pakistan suffered back-to-back losses in the first two T20Is against New Zealand
Pakistan continued their struggles even in their favorite T20 format, going down in the opening two T20Is of the ongoing series against New Zealand.
With the T20 World Cup less than six months away, the Men in Green have started their chapter under newly appointed T20I skipper Shaheen Afridi in the worst possible manner.
In the series opener, the bowlers were carted around the park and conceded a massive 226/8 to the Blackcaps in 20 overs. The Pakistan batters made a valiant effort in the run-chase but fell 46 runs short.
The second T20I followed a similar pattern, with the hosts posting another mammoth score of 194/8 in 20 overs. On this occasion, Pakistan came closer yet fell 21 runs short to fall behind 0-2.
With another series defeat seemingly imminent, the visitors must stem inspiration from somewhere to avoid falling into an unsalvagable 0-3 hole.
Pakistan performed admirably in the previous two T20 World Cups, reaching the semi-final of the 2021 edition and going a step further by advancing to the final in 2022.