Jimmy Neesham responds to an angry Pakistani fan who claimed the Kiwi "skipped national duties for money"
Kiwi all-rounder Jimmy Neesham has disclosed that he had to sit out New Zealand's upcoming Pakistan tour because of the NZ Cricket player welfare policy.
The New Zealand men's cricket team will play its first international series on Pakistani soil in 18 years later this month. However, the team's star all-rounder Neesham is not part of the Kiwi squad touring Pakistan.
Quite a few Pakistani fans have criticized Jimmy Neesham because he will play for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2021, which is scheduled to happen around the same period as the New Zealand-Pakistan series.
Check out the full list of IPL 2021 teams here.
Since he received many such messages, the all-rounder decided to make things crystal clear himself. Replying to an angry Pakistani fan who felt the Kiwi all-rounder was skipping the Pakistan series owing to his IPL deal, Neesham tweeted:
"I’m getting a lot of messages like this so I want to be crystal clear. It is an NZ Cricket player welfare policy that first choice players aren’t on this tour. I made a request for an exemption but that request was denied."
Jimmy Neesham has reached the United Arab Emirates to play in IPL 2021 and the T20 World Cup
Jimmy Neesham has landed in the United Arab Emirates to represent the Mumbai Indians in the second phase of IPL 2021 schedule. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) did not name him in the squad for the Bangladesh and Pakistan tours because they wished to give their first-choice players some rest.
Despite Neesham's desire to participate in the two tours, he did not receive an exemption. The all-rounder is now looking forward to watching the Blackcaps play against the two Asian teams.
New Zealand's Bangladesh tour gets underway today (September 1) with a T20I match, starting at 3:30 PM IST. You can follow the live scorecard of the 1st T20I between New Zealand and Bangladesh right here.