NZ v WI 2020: 'For his own sanity, he needs to go home' - Shane Bond reveals why Trent Boult has been left out of the T20Is
New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult has been left out of the T20I squad to face the West Indies in order to allow him to spend some time with his family before the 2-Test series, revealed former Kiwi pacer Shane Bond.
New Zealand will host the Windies in 3 T20Is starting on November 27 in Auckland, before heading on to the Test series from December 3. Trent Boult and captain Kane Williamson were not selected for the T20Is to enable them to concentrate on the longest format.
Both Boult and Bond are currently in managed isolation in Christchurch after having returned on November 14 from the recently concluded IPL 2020 in the United Arab Emirates.
“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,” Bond reasoned on a conference call on Friday.
Trent Boult is training at the high performance centre
Trent Boult hasn’t played any long-form cricket since March, and that’s why he is now putting in the hard yards at the high performance centre outside Christchurch. However, this is happening during sanctioned training sessions while being in managed quarantine.
“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,” Bond, who is assisting the training sessions, said.
Bond further added that the forthcoming T20Is against the West Indies would provide coach Gary Stead and selector Gavin Larson potential options to partner Trent Boult at the T20 World Cup in India next year.
“ I think you’ve got to use the games coming up to find out who may be the support act for him in and around that T20 World Cup team...There’s no problem from my perspective giving those other guys like Kyle Jamieson an opportunity to see what they’ve got,” Bond signed off.
Trent Boult took 25 wickets at a remarkable strike rate of 13.76 in 15 games in IPL 2020. He also returned a Man of the Match performance of 3 for 30 in the final, which the Mumbai Indians won by 5 wickets.