Watling retired from cricket after WTC 2021 Final as New Zealand's greatest wicketkeeper.
The New Zealand wicket-keeper batsman BJ Watling in his recent interaction made it clear that he doesn’t want to reverse his decision of retiring after the WTC win.
“I certainly know my time is done. It’s been a fantastic journey. It’s time for me to step aside but it’s certainly a great way for me to go out and I’m glad we were able to get the job done,” Watling told 1 NEWS from his isolation facility.
The 35-year-old then talked about how even though he will miss keeping wickets in the blistering heat of UAE, but the selectors won’t have to worry too much about his replacement as Watling believes Tom Blundell is ready to go.
“I think we all know Tom [Blundell] is ready to go He’s scored two fantastic hundreds and in the game, he played against England, I thought his keeping was excellent. It’s not easy with the Dukes' ball moving around and he did an outstanding job and took some excellent catches,” the wicket-keeper batsman said.
“I have full faith in Tom, he’s hungry and he’s ready to go,” he added.
Watling had no plans for the future as of yet but said he would be interested in remaining in the game in some respect. A stalwart in the side for the best part of a decade, Watling retires from the game as New Zealand's greatest wicketkeeper.
The right-hand batsman represented New Zealand in 75 Test matches in which he scored 3790 runs at an average of 37.52, including eight centuries. Watling also took 265 dismissals, which is comfortably the most by a Kiwi and good enough for ninth all-time globally.
(With 1 NEWS inputs)