Wellington: The seasoned Martin Guptill and Trent Boult were on Tuesday dropped from New Zealand’s squad for the home limited overs series against India, beginning here on November 18.
Opener Guptill has been dropped to accommodate rising star Finn Allen while New Zealand Cricket (NZC) decided to give others an opportunity in the six-match series ahead of Boult, who has opted out of a central contract with the board.
Allen is primed to face India for the first time after being confirmed in both BLACKCAPS squads for the series.
The 23-year-old Allen has already played 23 T20s and eight ODIs, amassing five half-centuries and a hundred.
In Boult’s absence, Tim Southee, Matt Henry (ODIs only), Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner and Adam Milne form the pace attack.
Milne is in line to play his first ODI since 2017, building on his return to the T20 International arena during the recent Tri Series and last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE.
Head coach Gary Stead said it was never easy leaving out the experience of Boult and Guptill but the team had to keep looking ahead.
“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,” he said in a statement.
“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. —PTI
“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 high performance sport.” he added.
PTI

Press Trust of India