New Zealand Cricket Team have announced the 15-member World Cup squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup in England and Wales starting from May 30. They are the first to divulge on their team as they rang surprises while naming the squad. Soon after the announcement, Kiwi head coach Gary Stead admitted they would look to bowl out opponents instead of restricting them in the upcoming showpiece event.
The 2015 World Cup finalists have named uncapped Tom Blundell in their 15-member squad as the second wicket-keeper. Besides, Colin de Grandhomme got a nod over Doug Bracewell while leg-spinner Ish Sodhi pipped Todd Astle to be in the team. Gary Stead has pointed that their focus will be on bowling out oppositions in the premier show. Meanwhile, Brendon McCullum-led New Zealand team also deployed the same mantra during the last World Cup. They were more or less successful in picking all ten wickets in six of the nine games they played.
“You’ll have nine [other] teams who will all have slightly different ways of playing, the word is it will be a high-scoring World Cup as well, but the best chance with the ball is certainly if we can bowl teams out and be aggressive in that. Think that will be a critical factor,” Stead said.
Blundell’s wicket-keeping played a part: Stead
Meanwhile, Tom Blundell is yet to play a fifty-over game for the New Zealand team. However, he got ahead of Tim Seifert as the latter sustained a finger injury on the last day of the domestic cricket. Seifert is more of an aggressive batsman who showed some glimpses during the recent T20I against India. Gary Stead stated that Blundell got a nod with his wicket-keeping skills playing a part in the selection.
“In the end, we’ve gone with Tom Blundell, we believe his keeping ability is superior and tie that in with his ability with the bat we think that would be a nice fit if Tom Latham was injured,” he added.
In conclusion, Gary Stead said that the 2015 World Cup will play a significant part when New Zealand begin their campaign against Sri Lanka on June 1 (Saturday) at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.