Kane Williamson to lead Blackcaps as NZ becomes 1st team to announce squad for T20 World Cup 2024

The New Zealand cricket side has officially announced all the team members who will be taking part in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in June in the United States and the Caribbean. The Blackcaps have become the first team to announce their squad for the ICC T20 event, featuring some of the nation's top cricketing stars. A veteran cricketer also found the spot in the 15-member list.

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Kane Williamson to lead, top stars receive ticket as New Zealand announce T20 World Cup squad

New Zealand has gone for a veteran-like arsenal that can fire off strong in the limited-over tournament. Kane Williamson will be leading the side, and it will be his sixth appearance in the T20 CWC and his fourth as a skipper. Veterans Tim Southee and Trent Boult will appear in the T20 tournament for the seventh and fifth time, respectively. In-form top-order batter Colin Munro also receives a spot, as NZ did not put up some major surprises in this year's squad. NZ's ODI World Cup sensation Rachin Ravindra and fast bowler Matt Henry will make their ICC T20 World Cup debut in June.

The players who missed out are pacer Kyle Jamieson and all-rounder Adam Milne as they recover from their injuries. However, players like Will O'Rourke, Tom Latham, Tim Seifert and Will Young were surprisingly missing from the squad despite being in-form in the white-ball game.

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With a well-balanced group, New Zealand coach Gary Stead is optimistic about his team's performance for the month-long competition.

“I'd like to congratulate everyone named today. It’s a special time representing your country at a world tournament.”

“We expect the venues in the West Indies to offer quite varied conditions and feel we’ve selected a squad with the scope to adapt to those conditions,” Stead said.

New Zealand Squad for T20 World Cup 2024

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.

Travelling Reserve: Ben Sears

On June 7, New Zealand will play their opening match of the T20 World Cup against Afghanistan in Guyana. Group C matches with co-hosts West Indies, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea, among others, will come after.