Martin Guptill’s chances of playing a fourth 50-over World Cup have dimmed, with the opener dropped from New Zealand’s white-ball squad to play India.
The 36-year-old batsman was a member of the Black Caps’ recent T20 World Cup squad in Australia but did not play a game as selectors opted for rising star Finn Allen to open with Devon Conway.
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“The emergence and success of Finn at the top of the order in white-ball cricket means a guy of the class of Martin Guptill misses out – that’s just the nature of high-performance sport,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said on Tuesday.
“With the 50-over World Cup less than a year away we’re keen to give Finn every opportunity to keep gaining ODI experience, especially against quality opposition such as India.”
New Zealand hosts fellow T20 World Cup semi-finalists India in three T20s starting in Wellington on Friday.
The teams then play three ODI matches from Nov. 25.
Pace spearhead Trent Boult has been omitted from the white-ball squad a few months after being released from his national contract.
“When Trent opted out of his NZC contract in August, we indicated that priority would be given to those players with either central or domestic contracts, and that’s been the case here,” Stead said.
Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner and Adam Milne fill the pace bowling ranks.
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