The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is just a couple of months away and as every team prepares to build and announce their squads for the World Cup, the Kiwis did their part too.
New Zealand cricket, after some thought, have come to a decision to focus more on the player and staff welfare this winter over their winter period as a lot of significant tours and tournaments approach in a short span of time.
New Zealand will start with the tour of Bangladesh which is a five-match T20I series, commencing from September 1 and continuing till September 10.
Just a week later they travel to Pakistan for another five-match T20I series, succeeded by a three-match ODI series. After the Pakistan tour, they will be contesting to win their first-ever ICC Men's T20 World Cup which will be followed by a tour to India for Tests.
The aim is to alleviate the load on the Black Caps as they enter a four-month incessant action and thus, a fresh crew of coaching staff, led by Wellington coach Glenn Pocknall with Mike Sandle as the team manager for the Bangladesh and Pakistan tours.
A lot of new faces will be gearing up for these tours, while the core team will be focusing on the World Cup and the forthcoming Test tour of India.
The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is Cricwizz's look-out for today as we discuss the announced New Zealand squad and analyze various factors that led to the selection.
New Zealand squad for the T20 World Cup: Kane Williamson (C), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, and Tim Southee, while Adam Milner has been announced the injury cover.
Now let's analyze the selection.
Tough Decisions
Some big names didn't make it to the World Cup squad and Colin Munro in specific didn't take the exclusion very well.
Along with him, Tom Latham, Colin de Grandhomme, and Matt Henry were some of the big names to miss out on. However, Colin Munro was very dejected by this and articulated his feelings via Instagram stories.
"Extremely gutted to miss out on this, was definitely a goal of mine that I wanted to tick off," Munro posted on his Instagram Stories when the squad was named. "Looks like I might have played my last game for [the Blackcaps] not by choice."
- Colin Munro
Munro has 1724 T20I runs at 31.34 with a strike rate of 156.44 and the last represented New Zealand in February 2020 then losing his central contract later that year.
However, his performances in leagues around the world have been robust (in the PSL, CPL, BBL, and currently the Hundred). Coach Gary Stead was clear enough why Munro wasn't in the squad and he also revealed that he had spoken to the player about it.
The emergence of some prospects has led to tight competition in the selection. Daryl Mitchell's performances led to de Grandhomme's exclusion after the latter had an injury-filled campaign that played a huge role in him dropping out.
The experience filled with the flare of youngsters
While the likes of Guptill, Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi, and Mitchell Santner come with experience in their respective departments, Devon Conway will be a valuable option.
Wicket-keepers Glenn Phillips and Tim Seifert will be bringing their fresh approach, while the likes of Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, and Jimmy Neesham will be contributing to both departments.
Kyle Jamieson, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult, and Tim Southee look like a malignant pace attack, being enough evidence as to how this New Zealand side is a perfect blend of experience and youth.
Failure in winning a T20 World Cup
New Zealand lost to the eventual finalists Pakistan in the inaugural T20 World Cup in the year 2007, followed by poor performances in the 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014 T20 World Cups as they failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
In 2016, they again lost in the semi-finals to England, another side that lost the finals like Pakistan in 2007.
So this campaign will be an enormous one for the Kiwis, especially after back-to-back ODI World Cup final losses.
However, the Black Caps would hope to focus more on their latest achievement i.e. the ICC World Test Championship, a huge accomplishment for Kane Williamson and co.
They would hope that they handle themselves in the same manner and progress as far as they can in the competition. What do you think? How far will New Zealand go in the upcoming T20 World Cup?
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