Ahead of the upcoming home T20I series against the West Indies, former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has admitted that the “T20 cricket hasn’t been the best format for the Black Caps of late” and feels they must start to build up with the crucial home series for the ICC events.
With two T20 World Cups lined up back to back in 2021 and 2020 in India and Australia respectively, McCullum said the upcoming three-match T20I series against West Indies starting on 27th of November in Auckland is “so vital” for the Black Caps to start improving their results in the format and build their best XI for next year’s T20 World Cup.
At the moment, New Zealand is second in the ICC Test rankings and third in ODIs but lagging at sixth in the T20I cricket and the commentator for the upcoming T20I series at home blamed the team’s strong desire to succeed in the longer formats by using the shorter format of the game as a chance to develop new players or give veterans a rest.
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McCullum told reporters on a conference call on Monday: “T20 hasn’t been the best format for the New Zealand team of late and I know there is a deep desire to improve those results.”
He further added, “I think with the T20 World Cup not being far away, now is the time to really start to drill down what your best 11 will be and then you start to build a squad that will be competitive at the next World Cup. That’s why these games are so vital.”
Meanwhile, West Indies are the current defending champions and the only team in the world to have won the T20 World Cup twice and McCullum said Kieron Pollard’s side “will be a very tough proposition” for the Black Caps in the upcoming series.
He has been familiar with the West Indian talent having guided the Trinbago Knight Riders to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title this year and feels they will give a tough fight to the hosts.
McCullum signed off by saying, “The West Indies are remarkable T20 cricketers. They have got immense flair right through their batting and bowling. They’re well led by Kieron Pollard and got a great mix of experience and youth. I think they will be a very tough proposition.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
