Trent Boult confirms about playing his last T20 World Cup, says New Zealand's first round exit 'hard to take'

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Trent Boult has confirmed that the ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup will be his last appearance in the ICC showpiece event. He also expressed disappointment over New Zealand's failure to qualify for the Super 8 of T20 World Cup 2024.

New Zealand crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2024 after Afghanistan defeated PNG on Friday (June 14). New Zealand's campaign was derailed after they lost their first two matches against Afghanistan and West Indies.

Since his debut in 2011, Boult has been a key member of the BlackCaps’ golden generation, participating in multiple finals across all three formats for New Zealand. Additionally, the 34-year-old left-arm pacer has featured in four editions of the T20 World Cup since 2014.

“Speaking on behalf of myself, this will be my last T20 World Cup. That’s all I have to say,” Boult said at the press conference after New Zealand’s nine-wicket win over Uganda. Boult registered figures of 2/7 in four overs as Uganda were bundled out for 40 in 18.4 overs.

Whether Boult will continue to play for New Zealand in any capacity remains uncertain as he had opted out of a central contract in 2022, choosing to play T20 franchise cricket around the world instead. Effectively, New Zealand’s last group game against Papua New Guinea will be Boult's last T20 World Cup outing.

“Definitely (it was) not the start we wanted in the tournament. A hard one to take. Just gutted we’re not going any further. But any time you get to represent the country, it’s a proud moment.”

New Zealand have been a picture of consistency, having qualified to the semifinals of the T20 World Cups every time since 2014.

“There’s a lot of pride in the dressing room and in playing for the country, we’ve had some great records across however many years. Unfortunately we’ve been off the ball the last couple of weeks and that’s what it takes to not qualify.

“It’s unfortunate, but there’s still some tremendous talent inside that dressing room and coming through the ranks in New Zealand cricket, so we’re a proud nation and we’ll continue to go that way,” he said.

Meanwhile, bowlers have had a successful run in the tournament at the expense of batters’ misery on tough wickets in the T20 World Cup, which has had just one 200 plus score thus far. Boult has made the call for restoration of the balance.

“Yeah, it’s been a challenge, there’s no doubt about it. There’s been some very low scores. I’ve played cricket all around the world recently and you come up with a lot of different conditions.

“It’s always a challenge in adapting to conditions, but I think the balance has been far too much on the bowler’s side, but they just haven’t been very good wickets. It’s been a good challenge for bat and ball but it’s interesting to see in a world tournament.”

(With Input From PTI)