New Zealand cricket team coach Gary Stead has said that the team could travel to India for the WT20 with a squad of 20 players.
Generally most of the team’s tour for the World Cup with a bucket of 15 players but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the situations are different now. The teams are even touring with more than 20 players in bilateral series.
“The way Covid is at the moment and the way the world is changing so quickly, I’d probably expect there could be up to 20 people in the squad,” Stead was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz.
“In some ways, that makes it easier getting the balance you want throughout and having your people who are next in line ready to go.
“I think it’s realistic to expect that there could be guys selected to go to the World Cup later in the year, who may not have played for New Zealand [in T20s].”
The five match T20 international match between New Zealand and Australia is set to begin from February 22 and their recent T20 form is also a matter of concern. In the last two T20I series New Zealand suffered 5-0 defeat from India and 3-2 defeat against England.
“The last two series versus Pakistan and West Indies, who were teams ranked higher than us, we’ve done well against those. We’ve played some good cricket,” added Stead.
“Australia is still a dangerous team. You could argue this is the form team of the Big Bash that’s over here right now. Yes, they may not have some of those names that we expect to see, but when you look through their lineup they’re still class right the way through.”
