Cricket: Black Caps face uncertain future after T20 World Cup loss to Pakistan

Trent Boult in action during the semifinal against Pakistan. Photo / photosport.nz

The Black Caps are hurting after failing to meet the challenge posed by Pakistan – and will now battle a host of different challenges in the next 12 months.

A T20 World Cup that began with a stunning victory over Australia ended in meek defeat on Wednesday night, outplayed in all areas by a Pakistan side who emphatically punched their ticket for Sunday’s final.

New Zealand recorded their lowest score of the tournament before producing their worst effort with the ball and in the field, slumping to a seven-wicket loss that caused frustration and disappointment within the squad.

It remains to be seen how many of that squad will be absent on Monday when coach Gary Stead names two 13-man groups to contest home T20 and ODI series against India later this month.

Virat Kohli is among the big names skipping that tour and the Black Caps will surely follow the tourists’ lead for at least the three T20 matches, given their focus has immediately switched to next year’s ODI World Cup.

And now would be the right time to blood new talent in a team whose sole fresh face across the Tasman was opener Finn Allen, especially considering the ever-changing landscape in the shortest form.

Trent Boult’s immediate future will be of particular interest. The veteran opted out of his central contract in August and is set to play franchise cricket in Australia and the United Arab Emirates while the Black Caps are touring Pakistan later this year.

Boult was too good to omit from the World Cup squad but that calculus would now change, and with Colin de Grandhomme and Jimmy Neesham having also declined contracts, coach Gary Stead knew the available personnel would be far from settled.

“It’s obviously a shifting landscape at the moment with the international game, and I think New Zealand are a country that have been challenged a bit with the likes of Trent and Colin de Grandhomme and some of the decisions they’ve made,” Stead said.

“In the next 12 months we will continue to be challenged with our thinking around that and what it looks like. I don’t necessarily have an answer right now, because I’m not sure what the landscape will look like.

“It is a bigger challenge, no doubt about it. I’m sure we have a number of players who are attractive to some of these leagues. That says something about their calibre as players and the way we play as a team. There’s a lot of thinking and talking that needs to go on in that area.”

Stead believed there was no need for a rethink regarding the squad the Black Caps took to Australia, saying they were the right players for this moment. Those players are now left with the pain of falling barely short of World Cup glory for the fifth straight limited-overs tournament.

“Everyone’s disappointed within the group, and probably a bit frustrated that we didn’t put out the type of performance that we’d shown earlier in the tournament,” Stead said. “That’s the hardest thing to stomach.”