‘I may have played my last game for Black Caps’, Colin Munro gutted after being left out of T20 WC squad

Munro has three T20I centuries to his name while he averages 156.44 in the shortest format.

New Zealand on Monday (August 9) picked 32 players for the upcoming tours of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the T20 World Cup, slated to be held in UAE and Oman from October 17 to November 14.

One notable omission in all the squads was Colin Munro, who was ranked world’s No.1 T20I batsman as recently as 2018.

The southpaw, who has three T20I centuries to his name, is currently plying his trade in The Hundred in UK. He has registered scores of 26, 7, 33* and 41* in the 100-ball competition.  

Dejected after being left out of the national squad, Munro posted a story on Instagram which states: “Extremely gutted to miss out on this, was definitely a goal of mine that I wanted to tick off. Looks like I may have played my last game for Black Caps, not by choice.”

After his social media post, Black Caps coach Gary Stead spoke to Colin Munro, as confirmed by the former in a press conference.

Stead further said that Munro ruled himself out of Bangladesh and Pakistan tours and was only available for the T20 World Cup.

“Colin was still available but for the World Cup only, and wasn’t available for any other tours at all. We talked through that decision, and in the end we’ve had a lot of success with guys in our T20 squad the last six months. We know Colin’s been a fine player and still is a fine player…

“… I’m pleased he’s frustrated. When you’ve got a lot of quality players around you can’t fit everyone in to 15… Yes I have spoken to Colin, about a week ago so he’s clear on where he sits.”

Munro has featured in 65 T20Is so far, scoring 1724 runs at an impressive strike rate of 156.44 with the highest score of 109 not out. His last appearance in the shortest format was against India in February 2020.

Meanwhile, veteran Ross Taylor has not been named in the 15-member New Zealand squad led by Kane Williamson for the T20 World Cup. All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme has also been left out from the squad.

Three spinners Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and Todd Astle have been picked. The squad also includes four seamers Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson and Kyle Jamieson as well as all-round options in Daryl Mitchell and James Neesham.

New Zealand T20 World Cup squad: Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.

(Inputs from stuff.co.nz)