But the Black Caps have an excellent opportunity to get into some good nick during the Pakistan Tri Series, which gets under way tonight.
Pakistan will host the Black Caps in the opening game in Lahore.
That match gets under at 10pm (New Zealand time).
On Monday the Black Caps will play South Africa.
The top two teams will play off in the tournament final on Friday.
Black Caps bowling coach Jacob Oram made the priorities pretty clear when he spoke to the media earlier in the week.
"We've got to make sure every time we play we're trying to win," he said.
"But, at the same time, the bigger trophy is, what, a week or two after that with the Champions Trophy.
"We want to win the tri-series, we want to do well. We want guys to be in form and nice and confident, but obviously, the Champions Trophy is the big one.
"We've played Pakistan a lot either here or in New Zealand, so we know them well, and this tri-series will give us hopefully confidence going into it [the Champions Trophy]."
The Black Caps will be without fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, who was injured during a T20 game for the Vipers earlier this week.
He left the field with just one ball left in his spell and in the game.
Cricinfo reported his departure as a hamstring strain.
His absence will likely pave the way for Ben Sears. But Otago seamer Jacob Duffy is another option.
Duffy was added to the squad as cover and his ability to bowl at the death and execute a plan could work in his favour.
Spin will play more of a factor as well.
But when asked about the conditions, Oram said they would not be as foreign as they once were, as the New Zealand players increasingly get around the globe to play in various T20 tournaments.
"[The] guys are fully aware of what they're going to be playing on ... it's just part and parcel of the modern cricket landscape," he said.
The Black Caps recently swept India 3-0 in a test series, so they will not miss the green and well-grassed pitches they are more familiar with.
"It's not quite as scary as it once was because we play here so often, so I don't think there'll be any issues there.
"Guys work their game plans out around sweeping or using their feet or just generally playing the slower bowlers, so from a batting perspective that's how we'll approach it.
"And you know we have enough spin options in our team, led by our captain Mitchell Santner, to be nice and confident of what we can do."
Tri Series
Black Caps v Pakistan
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (captain), Matt Henry, Ben Sears, Will O’Rourke, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Nathan Smith, Jacob Duffy.
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Kamran Ghulam, Khushdil Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
