Shane Bond Supports The Decision To Rest Trent Boult From The T20I Series Against West Indies

On Tuesday, New Zealand Cricket Board announced the squad to face West Indies for three T20 internationals starting 27th November. The two major missings were regular skipper, Kane Williamson, and spearhead pacer, Trent Boult. Former Kiwi pacer, Shane Bond explains the reason for the same.

Both Williamson and Boult are coming off a strenuous couple of months in the IPL, where both suffered minor injuries. Boult has a memorable IPL 2020 as he decimated opposition batting with the ball, especially in the powerplay. The left-arm seamer took 25 wickets at an economy of 7.97 and was instrumental in Mumbai Indians winning their fifth IPL title. Williamson was a key player in Sunrisers Hyderabad reaching Qualifier 2.

Trent Boult should spend time with his family before a busy summer: Shane Bond

Shane Bond, who is the bowling coach of Mumbai Indians, supported the decision of the selectors to rest Boult. He said that the 31-year-old deserves some time off the game and should spend it with his family. Bond believes that it would be a mistake if he continuously plays high-level cricket without any break.

New Zealand is gearing up for a massive season of cricket after the hiatus due to the covid-19 pandemic. They will host West Indies three T20Is and 2 Test matches and then Pakistan for the same number of matches. Australi will tour their neighbours for five-match T20I series before Bangladesh travels to New Zealand for 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is.

Shane Bond was quoted by India Today saying, “To fly out of here and go straight into games without seeing his family would have been a massive mistake. I think for his own sanity he needs to get home and spend a bit of time with his family before another busy summer.”

The 45-year-old former speedster will be with Boult in the quarantine as they have returned from UAE together. He will work with Boult at the high-performance centre outside Christchurch to focus on his bowling workload and get the pacer in the rhythm for the Test series. Both Williamson and Boult will return in the Test series against West Indies.

“Part of the thinking of being here together in quarantine is to get a bit more volume in terms of overs under his belt. So it gives him a bit of time to get some volume here and in the week or two before the test series against the West Indies starts,” Shane Bond added.

The ICC has recently decided to determine the World Test Championship standing based on the points percentage. New Zealand currently is at the fourth spot behind Australia, India, and England.

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