Heading into the T20 world cup 2022 Akash Chopra highlighted the strengths and New Zealand’s strategy.
Aside from the two teams that will advance from the qualifying round, New Zealand is grouped with Australia, England, and Afghanistan in the group 1league phase. On Saturday, October 22, they will face Australia in Sydney to start their campaign.
Their plan is fairly straightforward. They play a disciplined game and won’t play really interesting cricket if you get close to the par score. They will get the fundamentals correct. It resembles a PowerPoint presentation almost exactly. The mind of Kane Willamson is quicker than a computer.
The former Indian Batter added:
In the event of an off-spinner, a right-hander will be sent to take a chance. Jimmy Neesham may be sent higher in the order to face a particular opponent. They also accomplish all these things correctly for Tim Southee.
To advance to the semifinals, New Zealand will need to play at the top of its game. Even though Australia and England are expected to advance from Group 1 to the Knockout stage, the Kiwis might shock everyone.
Chopra Picked the kiwi players gelling together as a unit as their biggest strength.
“Their strength is that five fingers make a fist. They don’t have the superstars but they become a superstar team because everybody knows their role, what each one has to do. That’s all they are.”
Apart From Kane Williamson’s astute captaincy, the renowned commentator picked New Zealand’s excellent fielding as another of their plus points. He observed
“They will do man-to-man marking, make specific plans, they have an amazing captain in the form of Kane Williamson who has earned that respect. I wouldn’t say bowling or batting is their strength but they field exceptionally well.”
Chopra concluded by pointing out that the Black Caps would have formulated a plan against every opposition. He explained:
“They are a cohesive and disciplined unit. They will come with extremely good game plans. Whichever team they will come up against, they would have marked every opposition player and if things fall in place, they will demolish you with ease. You cannot take this team lightly in multi-nation tournaments.”
In ICC competitions, New Zealand is renowned for improving. They made it to the final of the T20 World Cup last year and the last two ODI World Cups. But they lost all three times.
New Zealand Squad:
Kane Williamson (c), Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne. Martin Guptill, Lockie Ferguson, Devon Conway, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Trent Boult, Finn Allen.
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