Experienced New Zealand will be led by Kane Williamson in the T20 World Cup, with the BlackCaps being the first team to reveal their team
The Black Caps were the first side to reveal its 2024 T20 World Cup roster on Monday, with Kane Williamson leading an experienced group of Kiwis. Two of the 15-man roster, bowler Matt Henry and batting all-rounder Rachin Ravindra, are the only ones who have never played in the T20 World Cup. The only player in the team with greater experience than Williamson is veteran fast bowler and captain of the New Zealand Test team, Tim Southee. This will be Southee’s seventh appearance in a T20 World Cup. Trent Boult, a senior pacer from New Zealand, has also confirmed his participation in the competition for the fifth time.
“To return to selection consideration, Matt has worked incredibly hard on his skills throughout the T20 game,” head coach Gary Stead stated in a news statement from New Zealand Cricket. In the last 12 months, Rachin has turned every post into a winner, so it was thrilling to watch him maintain that trend against Australia in the T20 format this summer. We feel we’ve assembled a team that can adjust to the highly variable conditions we anticipate the West Indies sites to bring,” Stead continued. Williamson made his T20I cricket comeback in January during New Zealand’s five-match home T20I series against Pakistan. Williamson had been out of the game for more than a year owing to injury.
Due to a hamstring injury, he was only able to participate in two of the series’ games. However, based on his recent performances in the 2024 Indian Premier League with the Gujarat Titans, it appears that he has fully recovered. Pace bowler Ben Sears has been selected for the tournament roster and will travel and train with the team in addition to the other fifteen players as injury cover. NZC added that Kyle Jamieson was not available for selection because he is still recovering from a back ailment, while Adam Milne was ruled out after surgery to treat an ankle problem. June 1 marks the start of the ninth T20 World Cup, with New Zealand’s opening Group C matchup against Afghanistan on June 7. The remaining nations are Uganda, Papua New Guinea, and the West Indies, the group’s co-hosts.
