T20 World Cup 2021: We’ve Never Had As Much Talent As This Within New Zealand Cricket - Stephen Fleming

Stephen Fleming has hailed the current crop of New Zealand players who will take part in the T20 World Cup as the most talented ones the country has ever had.

The former captain, who recently coached Chennai Super Kings to the IPL 2021 title, has joined the Black Caps contingent assist head coach Gary Stead early on in the tournament.

Stephen Fleming believes that the team has the skill set required to win matches but would need to need to strike the right balance to play an entertaining brand of cricket.

“It’s a good squad. We’ve never had as much talent as this within New Zealand Cricket, so getting the right balance and the way you want to play the game is very important. The skill set and what these guys put out, and entertain us with, is very high,” Stephen Fleming told stuff.co.nz on Sunday.

Coming to grips with conditions will be the challenge in warmup games: Stephen Fleming

Stephen Fleming revealed that he will be with the squad for the first week, sharing his experiences of the conditions in the UAE, where the second chunk of the IPL 2021 was played.

He stated that the players would need to acclimatise to the conditions during the warmup matches which would put them in good stead going into the main tournament.

“I’m doing five days now pre-World Cup and talk about the conditions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi which we’ve been playing in, and also cast an eye over and get some ideas back from him (Stead). I’m very proud to get the Black Caps kit back on as well.

“Coming to grips with these conditions will be the challenge in warmup games… is going to be very important, and there’s a couple of key games first up so dealing with pressure and starting the tournament well is a priority,” the former opener asserted.

New Zealand have two warm-up games scheduled – against England and Australia – before they play Pakistan for their first Super 12 stage match in Sharjah on October 26. They will then meet India, Afghanistan and two other teams who will qualify from Round 1 to the Super 12 stage.

New Zealand Squad: Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee

Reserves: Adam Milne

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