NZ could travel with bulky squad for T20 World Cup due to COVID-19

There could be up to 20 members in the New Zealand squad for the tourney in India, says coach Gary Stead.

New Zealand will play five T20Is against Australia in a series starting on Monday.

New Zealand could travel to India for this year’s ICC World T20 with a bulkier-than-usual squad of 20 members because of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to coach Gary Stead.

“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 .

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“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 next edition of the T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held in India in October-November, 2021.

T20s v Aus

New Zealand is slated to play a five-match T20 international series against Australia, starting from Monday.

“Australia are 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,” Stead said of the upcoming series.