Five reasons why New Zealand’s exit from T20 World cup is not a surprise

For the second time in T20 World Cups, New Zealand have made a first round exit. And given their preparations and build-up, it doesn’t come as a surprise. The Indian Express takes a look at where it went wrong for the Kiwis…

No warm-up matches

With nine of their players occupied in the IPL play-offs, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) gave them a few days off. Instead of heading straight to the Caribbean or the US to play warm-up fixtures, New Zealand players went home from the IPL for a short break. This meant, the NZ players arrived in three batches to Guyana and were not able to play the warm-up fixtures in the lead up to the first round. They headed into the first match against Afghanistan undercooked and eventually lost by 84 runs.

It led to their former player Simon Doul saying, “Over the years NZC have been very generous in allowing players to play franchise cricket all around the world, but they need to show the willingness to make decisions for the country as well,” Doul said on air. A majority of their players are regular not just in the IPL, but even in other T20 leagues with NZC even being lenient in terms of including players who have refused central contract (Trent Boult is an example).

Tough start

New Zealand were fortunate in terms of having less travel in the first round. After their first match at Providence, like India and South Africa, they had the luxury of playing the remaining three matches at a single venue – Trinidad. But being in a Group of Death, they didn’t get the breathing space in terms of schedule as their first two matches were against the tough opponents Afghanistan and West Indies, followed by fixtures against Uganda and Papua New Guinea. Had the fixtures been the other way around, it would have perhaps helped New Zealand to settle down a bit. But two successive defeats put an end card to their campaign.

A pattern in T20 World Cups

Unlike the ODI World Cups, New Zealand isn’t as consistent in the T20 World Cup. While they did make the final in the 2021 edition in the UAE, they have failed to make the second round or the semi-final in six of the nine editions. This despite, NZ board being accommodative in terms of giving their players the option to skip international matches and feature in the T20 leagues. When the IPL was on, New Zealand sent a third string team to Pakistan for a five-match T20I series, which drew the series 2-2. Only four players from that side were part of the World Cup squad.

Battling form

None of their nine players involved in the IPL had a fruitful season in India. While the versatile Glenn Phillips didn’t even play a single game in the IPL, the others also struggled for game time. Kane Williamson played just two matches and so did Mitchell Santner. Matt Henry (3), Lockier Ferguson (5) also mostly warmed the bench. Among those who played Daryl Mitchell struggled for consistency and so did the young Rachin Ravindra. Boult, who played all the matches, picked up just 12 wickets in the IPL. And for their two openers – Finn Allen and Devon Conway who were battling injuries – their opening match against Afghanistan was their first since February. Even for Tim Southee, the match against West Indies was his first since New Zealand’s domestic season ended in March.

The bench strength

While New Zealand have been able to maximise their resources in ODIs and Tests, they haven’t been able to repeat the same in T20s. Over the last few years, they have used away tours to test newcomers, but none have been able to cement their place in the team. While Mark Chapman continues to show promise, the likes of Tim Seifert, Tom Blundell, Will Young, Henry Nicholls haven’t been able to replicate their aggressive game at the international level. But there is one common trait in all of them – they are all aggressive batsmen, who have won matches on their own with the bat. Like India and Pakistan, it appears New Zealand too need a change of direction in the T20s, especially given the resources they have.

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