New Zealand’s tearaway pacer Lockie Ferguson is set to lead the team during their upcoming ODI tour of Bangladesh leading into the World Cup as Tom Latham among other senior pros is going to get a break ahead of the marquee tournament in India.
Latham, who is currently in charge of the ODI unit in Kane Williamson’s absence will get a break alongside Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, and Daryl Mitchell. Right-arm tall pacer Kyle Jamieson, veteran speedster Trent Boult and injury-prone quick Adam Milne will shoulder the onus of the pace attack alongside Ferguson.
New Zealand’s head coach Garry Stead feels that Lockie has plenty of experience as an international bowler and captaincy will provide him an opportunity to lead from the front.
“Lockie is an experienced bowler at the international level, and this is an opportunity for him to really lead from the front with not just the bowling group but the team as a whole. He stepped into the role for the warm-up matches in England and led a group with a lot of moving parts well,” Stead told New Zealand Cricket.
Stead believes that it is important to rest and rotate players when there are a lot of marquee tournaments like the World Cup and World Test Championship are around.
“We have a very full schedule between now until the end of our tour to Pakistan in April including the World Cup and the start of the new World Test Championship cycle so trying to keep players and staff fresh and ready at the right times is paramount,” he added.
“Balancing workloads also provides opportunities and it’s exciting to have different players in the group and learning in an environment like Bangladesh. It can be a challenging place to tour and getting used to different conditions quickly will be important over the next few months.”
New Zealand’s ODI squad for Bangladesh tour:
Lockie Ferguson (c), Finn Allen, Tom Blundell, Trent Boult. Chad Bowes, Dane Cleaver, Dean Foxcroft, Kyle Jamieson, Cole McConchie, Adam Milne, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Will Young
