Martin Guptill will be playing his record seventh T20 World Cup while Finn Allen and Michael Bracewell are the only two new faces in the New Zealand squad that played last year’ final.
Star batter Martin Guptill will play a record seventh T20 World Cup while Finn Allen and Michael Bracewell are the only two new faces from the side that played the final last year as New Zealand named their squad on Tuesday for the mega showpiece in Australia. (More Cricket News)
The 35-year-old Guptill’s inclusion was part of a largely predictable while pacer Adam Milne retained his place in the squad, after the 30-year-old was called in to replace Lockie Ferguson (calf injury) early in the tournament last October.
Devon Conway has been named as the front-line wicket-keeper after wearing the gloves in the UAE and the recent series against West Indies. Of those who featured in last year’s World Cup squad, Kyle Jamieson was not considered as he continues his rehabilitation from a back injury.
Todd Astle and Tim Seifert have missed selection. Guptill thus joins an exclusive list of players in Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Mohammad Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim to have played seven ICC events in the shortest format of the game.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al-Hasan and his Indian counterpart Rohit Sharma are set for their eighth T20 World Cups. Nathan McCullum and Ross Taylor are the only other New Zealanders to have appeared at six T20 World Cups.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup, New Zealand will play a tri-series involving Pakistan and Bangladesh starting in Christchurch from October 7. With seven matches in eight days, the tri-series will provide a perfect preparation for the Kiwis before they depart for Australia on October 15.
New Zealand open their T20 World Cup campaign against Australia at the SCG on October 22. “It’s great to have this tournament so soon after last year’s event in which we played some really good cricket, but couldn’t quite get over the line at the end,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said.
“With the nucleus of that squad retained along with the exciting additions of Finn and Michael, we should go into the tournament with plenty of optimism,” he added. Kane Williamson will lead New Zealand.
Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman. Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.
New Zealand vs Pakistan – October 8
New Zealand vs Bangladesh – October 9
New Zealand vs Pakistan – October 11
New Zealand vs Bangladesh – October 12
Tri-Series Final – October 14
Warm-Ups
New Zealand vs South Africa – October 17
New Zealand vs India – October 19
Pool Play
New Zealand vs Australia – October 22
New Zealand vs Afghanistan – October 26
New Zealand vs Qualifier A1 – October 29
New Zealand vs England – November 1
New Zealand vs Qualifier B2 – November 4