BLACKCAPS pace-bowling spearhead Jacob Duffy is set for his first senior World Cup after being included in an experienced 15-player squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup\u00a0in\u00a0India and Sri Lanka, starting next month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old is the only first timer in a well-established BLACKCAPS squad boasting 1064 T20I caps and\u00a0to\u00a0be captained by Mitch Santner, who is set to attend his ninth senior ICC global event.<\/p>\n
Duffy, the second ranked ICC T20I bowler in the world, has been in red-hot form for the BLACKCAPS across the formats, finishing 2025 with a total 81 international wickets at an average of 17 from 36 matches, breaking Sir Richard Hadlee\u2019s 40-year record of 79.<\/p>\n
The remainder of the squad has a familiar feel with Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry and Adam Milne the pace-bowlers, and Jimmy Neesham the pace-bowling all-rounder.<\/p>\n
In addition to the captain, there are four other spin options with the BLACKCAPS second-highest T20I wicket-taker Ish Sodhi the sole specialist, alongside all-rounders Michael Bracewell, Glenn Phillips, and Rachin Ravindra.<\/p>\n
For Santner and Sodhi, a T20 World Cup in India will be somewhat of a full circle moment, with both players having made names for themselves in the 2016 version of the tournament also in India.<\/p>\n
Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell and Tim Seifert\u00a0are the specialist batters.<\/p>\n
Seifert, who will take the gloves in India, will join the squad following a stint in Australia’s Big Bash League, where he opened his campaign for the Melbourne Renegades with a\u00a0fifth T20 hundred (102 off 56 balls).<\/p>\n
Allen (finger\/hamstring), Chapman (ankle), Ferguson (calf), Henry (calf),\u00a0and Santner (adductor) are undergoing respective return-to-play plans and are currently on track to be fit for the tournament.<\/p>\n
With Ferguson and Henry’s partners due to give birth during the tournament period it is likely they will be granted short-term paternity leave.<\/p>\n
Kyle Jamieson will travel with the squad as the pace-bowling reserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n
BLACKCAPS ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad<\/p>\n
Mitchell Santner (c)\u00a0Northern Brave<\/p>\n
Finn Allen\u00a0Auckland Aces<\/p>\n
Michael Bracewell\u00a0Wellington Firebirds<\/p>\n
Mark Chapman\u00a0Auckland Aces<\/p>\n
Devon\u00a0Conway\u00a0Wellington Firebirds<\/p>\n
Jacob Duffy\u00a0Volts<\/p>\n
Lockie Ferguson\u00a0Auckland Aces<\/p>\n
Matt Henry\u00a0Canterbury Kings<\/p>\n
Daryl Mitchell\u00a0Canterbury Kings<\/p>\n
Adam Milne\u00a0Wellington Firebirds<\/p>\n
James Neesham\u00a0Auckland Aces<\/p>\n
Glenn Phillips\u00a0Volts<\/p>\n
Rachin Ravindra\u00a0Wellington Firebirds<\/p>\n
Tim Seifert\u00a0Northern Brave<\/p>\n
Ish Sodhi Canterbury Kings<\/p>\n
*Kyle Jamieson\u00a0Canterbury Kings – Pace-bowling reserve<\/p>\n
BLACKCAPS head coach Rob Walter said it was an exciting time for all involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly, a big congratulations to all of the players selected for this World Cup,\u201d said Walter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorld Cups are special and there\u2019s few better places to play one than in India,\u00a0which is very much the heartbeat of the modern game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy with the skills and experience of this squad and I think we have a group which\u00a0can make New Zealand proud.”<\/p>\n
Walter said the squad covered all bases.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs always, the balance of the squad is critical.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got plenty of power and skill in the batting, quality bowlers who can adapt to conditions, plus five all-rounders who all bring something slightly different.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an experienced group and the players\u00a0are\u00a0no strangers to playing in the sub-continent,\u00a0which will be valuable.”<\/p>\n
Walter said the squad was well prepared.<\/p>\n
“The group have had a healthy diet of T20 cricket leading into this World Cup, with three T20 International series to start the home summer, followed by the Super Smash and franchise opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve also got a hugely exciting tour of India,\u00a0which will be a big challenge and provide ideal preparation for what\u2019s to come.”<\/p>\n
The BLACKCAPS have been assigned to Group D alongside Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa and the UAE, with their opening match taking place on February 8 in Chennai against Afghanistan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matches will be broadcast live in New Zealand on Sky Sport, with live scoring available at\u00a0nzc.nz\u00a0and the NZC App.<\/p>\n
BLACKCAPS ICC Men\u2019s T20 World Cup Schedule<\/p>\n
Warm-up – v USA – Friday 6 February, 2.30am NZT (Navi Mumbai)<\/p>\n
1st T20I – v Afghanistan – Sunday 8 February, 6.30pm NZT (Chennai)<\/p>\n
2nd T20I – v UAE – Tuesday 10 February, 10.30pm NZT (Chennai)<\/p>\n
3rd T20I – v South Africa – Sunday 15 February, 2.30am NZT (Ahmedabad)<\/p>\n
4th T20I – v Canada – Tuesday 17 February, 6.30pm NZT (Chennai)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BLACKCAPS pace-bowling spearhead Jacob Duffy is set for his first senior World Cup after being included in an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-220816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}