Black Caps’ T20 World Cup lineup might not have room for Rachin Ravindra
Tuesday, 4 June 2024
The Black Caps face Afghanistan on Saturday (NZ time) in their first match at this year’s Twenty20 World Cup.
Coach Gary Stead says they are yet to settle on their playing XI for the clash at Guyana National Stadium.
But it is hard to see where there will be room in the lineup for Rachin Ravindra, a key figure at last year’s one-day World Cup.
When Gary Stead looks at the 15 men he has selected in the Black Caps for this year’s Twenty20 World Cup, he doesn’t see a weak link.
He is also yet to settle on the playing XI for his side’s opening match against Afghanistan on Saturday (first ball 11.30am NZ time) in Guyana.
And unlike at the last two T20 World Cups – in the United Arab Emirates in 2021 and Australia in 2022 – he expects he will want to make unforced changes.
But whichever way he chops things up, it’s hard to see where there will be a place for all-rounder Rachin Ravindra, even though the 24-year-old has proven over the past 12 months to be a big-game player, in particular at last year’s one-day World Cup.
The Black Caps’ top order looks settled, with Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell expected to line up from No 1 to No 5, just as they did in Australia two years ago.
No 6 is the spot surrounded by question marks and the choice looks to be between an extra seam option in Jimmy Neesham or an extra spin option in Michael Bracewell, whose ability to turn the ball away from left-handers as an off-spinner would likely give him the edge over left-armer Ravindra.
Mark Chapman will also be eyeing that spot as a specialist batter, with the last five spots expected to be filled by the frontline bowling attack – spinners Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi and seamers Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson, with Matt Henry in reserve.
Stead said he would take in all he could from the first two matches at Guyana National Stadium – Afghanistan’s 125-run win over Uganda on Tuesday (NZ time), and the West Indies’ clash with the African nation on Thursday – before settling on his XI.
He also gave no indication he was looking to find a way to get Ravindra in there, a move that would require either a shock change at the top of the order, or shoehorning him in lower down, at the expense of one or both of Neesham or Bracewell.
“Rachin's been fantastic in the way that he's burst onto the scene and he's certainly made every post a winner in the way that he's played,” Stead said on Tuesday.
“I think all 15 players here could say that they could or should start in the starting lineup. It's not that I look and say there's any real weak link at all within our team
“For us, it'll just be working out the spin and batting options and where people fit and what we think is right.
“It's certainly a nice problem to have, rather than having eight players and trying to fill the rest of (the spots).”
The Black Caps used the same XI in four of their five of their matches in Australia in 2022, with their only changes at that tournament and in 2021 coming as the result of injuries.
'I think probably here, there's more chance of (making unforced changes), just because of the different conditions and also, the opposition we play can play quite differently as well,“ Stead said.
“The way Afghanistan play and the way West Indies play could be quite different. For example, Afghanistan will only have one left hander in the top order; West Indies could have four or five.”
All eyes will be on the team named at the toss on Saturday, but with as many as eight matches to follow, if the Black Caps make it all the way to the final in Barbados on June 29, the four players missing from it might still have a part to play yet.
Black Caps – Twenty20 World Cup
Squad
Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee
Fixtures (NZ time)
Saturday, June 8, 11.30am: v Afghanistan; Guyana National Stadium
Thursday, June 13, 12.30pm: v West Indies; Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago
Saturday, June 15, 12.30pm: v Uganda; Brian Lara Cricket Academy
Tuesday, June 18, 2.30am: v Papua New Guinea; Brian Lara Cricket Academy
Thursday, June 20 to Tuesday, June 25: Super Eight phase*
Thursday, June 27, 12.30pm: Semifinal one; Brian Lara Cricket Academy*
Friday, June 28, 2.30am: Semifinal two; Guyana National Stadium*
Sunday, June 30, 2.30am: Final; Kensington Oval, Barbados*
* if qualified