Veteran New Zealand batter Martin Guptill might have fallen out of favor from the national team, but he has not given up hopes yet and has vowed to make a strong comeback.
The explosive opener has been roped in by the Melbourne Renegades for the upcoming Big Bash League (BBL) as an overseas replacement for England batting all-rounder Liam Livingstone. He took this decision after being released from his New Zealand central contract.
It now remains to be seen whether Guptill will any longer be in the Kiwi national selectors' and the team management's favor especially with an eye on the next year's ODI World Cup in India.
It's all about playing as much cricket as I can: Martin Guptill
"It's all about playing as much cricket as I can while I've got only got a few years left in the game," said Guptill as quoted by Zero Wicket.
"I need to be playing as much cricket as possible and I guess being on the outer of the international team at the moment, I just needed to go away and find some cricket and get back playing,” he added.
"I've loved playing for New Zealand and loved being part of what we've achieved over the last decade or so since I've been in the side and it's sad to have walked away from the contract, but it also opens up different avenues," he further added.
"The door is not closed on me playing for New Zealand again, so hopefully I've got my foot in there still and I can score some runs and get back in there,” the 36-year-old said.
Guptill still remains New Zealand’s all-time highest-run scorer in T20Is and the third-highest run-getter in the shortest format behind batting megastar Virat Kohli and India skipper Rohit Sharma. He has scored 3531 runs from 122 matches averaging 31.82 at a strike rate of 135.7.
The veteran batter was benched throughout the T20 World Cup 2022 as the team management showed faith in Finn Allen as an opener along with Devon Conway. The Blackcaps finished as the table-toppers in Super 12 stage, but a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the semi-final halted their progress in the tournament.
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