New Zealand has become one of the strongest teams in cricket of late, but there has been a different trend in their cricket as well, which has been noticed by some eagle-eyed fans. More and more cricketers born outside New Zealand are getting chances to play for the Kiwis in the international cricketing arena.
Last year, South Africa-born batter Devon Conway made his international debut and instantly cemented his place in the New Zealand cricket team as the team’s opening batter. After him, quite a few other Kiwi players who were not born in New Zealand have also made their debuts.
Right now, the ‘A’ team of the Blackcaps is in Bengaluru, playing against the India ‘A’ team in an unofficial Test series. The playing XI of the visitors has four players who were born outside the nation. A popular statistician pointed it out on Twitter and wrote:
“New Zealand A team appears like an IPL team with 7 local players and 4 overseas players. Mark Chapman (played for Hong Kong) Sean Solia (played for Samoa) Michael Rippon (played for Netherlands) Logan van Beek (played for Netherlands).”
New Zealand A team appears like an IPL team with 7 local players and 4 overseas players.
— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) September 3, 2022
Mark Chapman (played for Hong Kong🇭🇰)
Sean Solia (played for Samoa🇼🇸)
Michael Rippon (played for Netherlands🇳🇱)
Logan van Beek (played for Netherlands🇳🇱)#INDAvNZA
India ‘A’ have taken a lead in the first match against New Zealand ‘A’
The visitors batted first in Bengaluru and scored 400 runs on the board in the first innings. It seemed like India ‘A’ might face some issues while reducing their opponents’ lead, but the home side has absolutely dominated its rivals and scored 442/4 in the first innings so far.
Rajat Patidar has continued his excellent form from the domestic season and scored 153 runs so far. Opening batter Abhimanyu Easwaran touched the three-figure mark as well, while Tilak Verma is not out on 49 right now. It will be interesting to see how many runs the India ‘A’ team scores before declaring their innings.
