Matt Henry and Devon Conway Picked Up For NZ T20 World Cup Squad

The New Zealand Cricket Board has recently announced the squad for the upcoming T20I World Cup, which will be starting on June 1st in West Indies and USA. They have made this much-awaited announcement before all the teams in the marquee event. New Zealand has never won an international World Cup till now despite having one of the best players in the world. However, the Black Caps reached the final 2 teams in 2015 and 2019. But they lost the match against Australia and England.

New Zealand has picked experienced fast bowler Matt Henry in the upcoming T20I World Cup with the destructive left-hand batsman Devon Conway in the squad, who got injured before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and opted out to play from the Chennai-based franchise in the IPL 2024 is all set to mark his return for the Kiwis in the major tournament under the leadership of Kane Williamson.

Here is the list of 15 men squad for the ICC T20 World Cup:

Squad: Kane Williamson(c), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee [Ben Sears - Travelling Reserve]

Matt Henry is currently playing from a Lucknow-based franchise in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) after England’s star bowler, David Willey, opted out to play due to personal reasons. He was announced as the replacement for Lucknow Super Giants. However, Henry has represented the New Zealand cricket team in just 17 T20Is. But his bowling skills have improved and in the absence of Adam Milne due to an Ankle injury, he perfectly fit in the place with Ben Sears and Tim Southee as a traveling reserve for the Black Caps.

Matt has worked exceptionally hard on his skills across the phases of a T20 game to come back into selection consideration," head coach Gary Stead said.

The super-experienced Tim Southee and Bolt will represent the team in their 7TH T20I World Cup with Lockie and Henry. New Zealand have also named Michell Bracewell in their 15-man squad for the marquee event, who has performed brilliantly in the 5-match T20I series against Pakistan by making a draw of 2-2 in the 5-match T20I series.

New Zealand have named Daryl Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham as their pace bowling all-rounders while Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Philips, and Mark Chapman as their spin bowling all-rounders on the slow conditions of USA and West Indies.

"Rachin has made every post a winner in the past 12 months and it was exciting to see him continue that trajectory over the summer in the T20 format against Australia," Stead said.

Stead's support staff will feature Luke Ronchi as the batting coach and Jacob Oram as the bowling coach. James Foster will serve as the assistant coach for the group "with a focus on fielding," the NZC said in a release.