'That's all I have to say': New Zealand speedster Trent Boult announces international retirement

New Zealand speedster Trent Boult has announced that the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies will be his final appearance in the tournament. Boult has said that he will retire from playing for New Zealand in the T20 World Cup after the current edition ends for the side.   

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Trent Boult announces retirement from T20 World Cup

Trent Boult has been an important part of New Zealand's immense success over the past few years. New Zealand has played multiple ICC finals since the 2015 ODI World Cup and Boult has been a crucial part of the team in all those events. Boult has played four T20 World Cups for New Zealand since his debut in 2011. 

"Speaking on behalf of myself, this will be my last T20 World Cup. That's all I have to say," Trent Boult said at the press conference after New Zealand beat Uganda in their group stage game on Saturday.

Whether Trent Boult will continue to play for New Zealand in any capacity remains uncertain as he had opted out of a central contract in 2022, choosing to play T20 franchise cricket around the world instead.

Effectively, New Zealand's last group game against Papua New Guinea will be the 34-year-old's last T20 World Cup outing.

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New Zealand knocked out of T20 World Cup 2024

Despite the huge win against Uganda and a game left in hand, New Zealand have already been eliminated from the race to Super Eight with Afghanistan and West Indies clinching the two spots from Group C.

New Zealand have failed to qualify for the Super 8 stage of the World Cup after suffering losses in their first two matches of the tournament. The Blackcaps began their campaign with a 84-run loss against Afghanistan. They then lost to co-host the West Indies by 13 runs.

By failing to qualify for the Super 8 stage, the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup will be the first T20 World Cup since 2014 that will not have New Zealand as one of its four semifinalists.

New Zealand reached the semifinal stage of the 2016 T20 World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup. In between these two World Cups, New Zealand featured in the final of the 2021 T20 World Cup against Australia where they lost by 8 wickets.

(With PTI inputs)