Colin Munro is all set to take his place for New Zealand in the three-match T20I series against Pakistan in the UAE after successful stints at the Caribbean Premier League and the Afghanistan Premier League recently.
New Zealand has not played any International match since April 2018 when they played England in a Test series and since then, many of the Kiwi players have plied their trade in various T20 leagues around the world and Munro has made the most of the opportunity.
The Kiwi opener finished as the CPL's top scorer with 567 runs from 13 matches at 51.54 and a strike rate of 140.34, while amassed 188 runs from nine matches in the Afghanistan T20 League.
Munro told reporters in Abu Dhabi, “It's my first tour to the UAE. So obviously means a lot. The conditions are different from Sharjah (the venue of APL) to Abu Dhabi as the wickets are lower here and a little bit slow, as we have seen by the Aussie series. In terms of the Afghanistan Premier League, it was good learning. It was nice to get another tournament victory.”
The 31-year-old left-hander, who holds the record for the fastest T20I hundred off 47 balls for New Zealand, has scored three centuries in the T20I format, admitted that it will still be a bit hard to switch from league cricket to international fixtures.
He further added, “It is a bit hard [There are] a couple of new faces here and there but everyone has played for New Zealand, so it's like rejoining the family after being on a sabbatical, a year overseas. It's just coming back and being a part of a family, and everyone is in good spirits for the first game.”
Munro also admitted that it will be difficult to play in the UAE track but the Black Caps are ready to play Pakistan in the T20I series which will get underway on November 1 in Abu Dhabi.
He signed off by saying, “Big challenge, seriously, in these conditions. A few guys are coming out of the winter having not played a lot of cricket, so there is a consensus that we are going to go out there and play our brand of cricket and hopefully it's good enough for the day. Everyone is coming in with a bit of confidence and is ready to go for the first game.”
(Input: International Cricket Council)
