ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Martin Guptill Claims They Are Going To Try Their Best In The Upcoming World Cup
May 29, 2019 at 7:16 PM
New Zealand opener Martin Guptill has recently claimed that they are ready to put full effort in the upcoming Cricket World Cup to win it.
In the Cricket World Cup history, New Zealand has always struggled in the crucial moments. In the previous edition (2015), New Zealand first time reached the final of the tournament. Brendon McCullum-led New Zealand was unbeaten in that tournament ahead of the final match against Australia at Melbourne. However, they suffered a seven-wicket defeat in that final match and finished as the runners-up.
Martin Guptill knows that they aren’t the favourite side to win the upcoming Cricket World Cup. However, they are ready to give their best effort to win this tournament.
The 32-year-old told PTI, “I wouldn’t say we are favourites to win the World Cup this time but we have named a strong squad. We know it’s going to be a tough tournament. We are going to try our best, do everything we can to go and win the trophy we missed out on the last time.”
I hope I can continue the form I had last time – Martin Guptill
Martin Guptill was in great form in the previous edition of the Cricket World Cup. He finished that tournament as the leading run-scorer with 547 runs in nine innings with an average of 68.37 and strike-rate of 104.58.
Guptill is the highest individual run-scorer in Cricket World Cup history. In the quarterfinal against West Indies in the previous Cricket World Cup, Guptill scored an unbeaten 237 runs.
Guptill is hoping to imitate that performance in this edition of the Cricket World Cup.
He said, “It was pretty cool to have the second highest score in the World Cup thus far. You always need that kind of confidence going to such a big tournament. I think if you are not confident maybe you probably shouldn’t be turning out. I hope I can continue the form I had last time.”
Guptill feels that they had a great tournament in the last edition. He also claimed that their worst game in that tournament was the final.
He added, “The tournament (2015 World Cup) was really good for us. We played some really good cricket but unfortunately for us, we played our worst game in the final.”
Till the date, Martin Guptill has played three semi-finals in ODI format (2009 ICC Champions Trophy, 2011 and 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup). Out of those, his team New Zealand has won only once, and that was in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.
He said about this, “I honestly can’t say. I have been in three semifinals and we have managed to win only one of them.
“The one against Sri Lanka in 2011 we just didn’t play well enough, up to our potential on the day and I think that’s probably what’s happened the previous times we have made the semifinals.”
Martin Guptill about the present New Zealand ODI team
The present New Zealand cricket team is very different from their previous Cricket World Cup side. Experienced Martin Guptill feels that they need to come together once again and replicate their previous dominating performances in this edition.
He added, “To be honest, it’s a completely different team and it’s a different time, it’s four years later, so we need to come together and do what we do like last time. We have to make sure everybody is gelling well and are having some fun together because that was the biggest take away from last time.”
In recent times, New Zealand mostly performed well in ODIs, apart from their home ODI series against India. Guptill is confident about their present ODI team as their players are ready for the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
He claimed, “You look back over the summer everybody played well, pitched in whenever needed and came into form which is the beauty of our squad, everyone has had some sort of success heading to the World Cup.”
Martin Guptill prepared for the World Cup during IPL 2019
In the last ODI series against Bangladesh at home, Guptill hit two consecutive centuries. Later, he participated in the IPL 2019 but played only three matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He scored 81 runs in IPL 2019 with an average of 27.00 and strike-rate of 152.83. However, during the IPL 2019, Guptill was preparing for the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
He said, “I just tried to get as much batting practice as possible in the nets (in the SRH camp), to make sure I was in the rhythm heading to the World Cup.”
New Zealand will begin their upcoming Cricket World Cup journey on 1st June when they will face Sri Lanka at Cardiff.