New Zealand and India will engage in two high-octane white ball series after the conclusion of their disappointing T20 World Cup campaign in Australia. The Kiwis have announced their squad for the impending series, commencing on November 18, with a couple of notable absentees in Trent Boult and Martin Guptill.
Veteran left-arm pacer Trent Boult decided to opt-out from a central contract from the NZC in order to spend more time with his family, which is reason enough for his omission from the squad. However, Kiwi head coach Gary Stead stated that the team are aware of Boult's 'world-class ability', but are looking to build a team for the future at the moment.
“When Trent opted out of his NZC contract in August, we indicated that priority would be given to those players with either central or domestic contracts, and that’s been the case here. We’re all aware of Trent’s world-class ability, but at this time – as we build towards more global events, we want to give opportunities and experiences to others," Gary Stead said ahead of the T20I series against India.
Our squads to face India in three T20I's & three ODI's starting on Friday at @skystadium 🏏
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We’re keen to give Finn every opportunity to keep gaining ODI experience: Stead
Speaking on the absence of explosive opener Martin Guptill from the squad, the New Zealand head coach stated that the management are trying to provide more time to the recently emerged Finn Allen at the top of the order. Allen played a couple of eye-catching knocks in the recently concluded ICC event in Australia and Stead hopes of preparing the youngster for the 50-over World Cup next year.
“The emergence and success of Finn at the top of the order in white-ball cricket means a guy of the class of Martin Guptill misses out – that’s just the nature of the high-performance sport. With the 50-over World Cup less than a year away we’re keen to give Finn every opportunity to keep gaining ODI experience, especially against quality opposition such as India," Stead added.
Despite leaving out Boult and Guptill from the squads for the India series, the New Zealand head coach reckoned that there is still plenty of cricket left in them, and the door is open for a selection in the national team.
“The message to both those players is that there’s a lot of international cricket ahead and the door is certainly not closed to them.”
New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry (ODI), Tom Latham (ODI) (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi (T20), Tim Southee, Blair Tickner (T20)
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