Captain Williamson to lead the team in the upcoming sixth Twenty20 World Cup in June against New Zealand. Veteran bowler Tim Southee is also included in the group of 15 experienced players.
From June 2nd to June 30th, the event, which is being held in the United States and the West Indies, will mark Southee’s eighth player tournament and Williamson’s fourth as captain.
Alongside veteran speed bowler Trent Boult, 34, who will be participating in his seventh T20 World Cup, and Southee, 35, leads the assault. Southee has claimed a record 157 wickets in T20 international matches.
The only members of the team who have never participated in a T20 World Cup are seam bowler Matt Henry and batting all-rounder Rachin Ravindra, who was selected as the 2023 developing cricketer of the year.
Experience is what you want when you go to World Cups, according to head coach Gary Stead of New Zealand.
“In this exciting team, Kane and I had a lot of options to choose from in terms of pitches, surfaces, and balance.
After making it to the final of the 2021 event and the semifinals of the previous three, New Zealand will look to win its first championship.
“We personally feel that we’ve selected a team with the scope to adapt to those conditions and therefore we expect the venue to be of quite varied conditions in the West Indies,” Stead stated.
Due to injuries, seamers Adam Milne and Kyle Jamieson were unable to participate.
In an assault that also included Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson, Henry defeated Ben Sears for the open seam bowling spot.
In order to be considered for selection again, Matt has put in a great deal of effort honing his talents in all facets of a T20 match, according to coach Stead.
“It was thrilling to watch Rashin continue that trajectory over the summer in the T20 format against Australia. In the last 12 months, he has made every post a winner.”
The 15-man team includes 13 players who last toured the West Indies in 2022 and have recent Caribbean experience.
Source – aljazeera
