New Zealand becomes the first team to announce 15 15-member squad for the prestigious ICC T20 World Cup 2024 to be played in the West Indies and the United States of America.
The Kiwis will be led by experienced Kane Williamson. Finn Allen, Devon Conway, and Rachin Ravindra comprise three top-quality openers. Allen has done well for New Zealand as an opener in the recent past and would be eager to prove his worth again in the shortest format.
Rachin Ravindra and Matt Henry are the two only New Zealand players who have not featured in the T20 World Cups. Finn Allen recovered from a back injury that kept him out of the T20I series against Pakistan recently. Devon Conway also makes a comeback into the squad after recovering from a finger injury that he received during the 2nd T20I match against Australia at home.
Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, and Michael Bracewell would consist of middle-order batters. Phillps, Chapman, and James Neesham can change.
“We expect the venues in the West Indies to offer quite varied conditions and feel we’ve selected a squad with the scope to adapt to those conditions,” Stead said.
The pace bowling unit looks strong with the likes of Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, and Lockie Ferguson. Southee and Boult will be key to their chances in this tournament as they have played together across all formats for quite a long time.
The spinners include Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santer, Rachin Ravindra, and Glenn Phillips. Ish Sodhi and Santer are two genuine spinners who can control the run flow in the middle overs and pick wickets to stem the flow of runs. New Zealand lost to Pakistan in the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup played in Australia.
New Zealand Group and schedule for WC 2024
New Zealand has been clubbed with hosts West Indies, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and Uganda in Group C.
They will begin their journey against Afghanistan on 7th June at Providence Stadium, Guyana. After this, New Zealand would face hosts West Indies in a fierce contest on 12th June at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad, and Tobago.
The third match will see New Zealand face debutants Uganda at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad on 14th June. They would finish the group stage against Papua New Guinea on the 17th at Trinidad. New Zealand would face a tough fight with West Indies and Afghanistan.
New Zealand T20 World Cup Squad
Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ben Sears (travelling reserve)
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