New Zealand fast bowler Jacob Duffy’s prolific 2025 with the ball has been rewarded with a selection in the Black Caps’ ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad.
The second-ranked T20I bowler in the world, Duffy claimed 81 international wickets across formats in the last calendar year.
Mitchell Santner leads the team as he features in his ninth senior ICC Global Event as a player, joined by fellow spinner Ish Sodhi, fittingly 10 years after the pair played in the same tournament a decade ago in India.
Duffy joins Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry and Adam Milne in the pace department, with the side also naming Jimmy Neesham as a pace-bowling all-rounder. All-rounders Michael Bracewell, Glenn Phillips, and Rachin Ravindra add to the team’s spin depth.
Tim Seifert will keep wicket, Kyle Jamieson will travel with the squad as the pace-bowling reserve. Jamieson could well play a part in the tournament, with the partners of both Ferguson and Matt Henry due to give birth during the tournament period, where they will be granted short-term paternity leave.
New Zealand ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad
Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi Travelling Reserve: Kyle Jamieson
New Zealand head coach Rob Walter is excited by the challenge of the upcoming tournament, and believes the group is well-balanced to deal with the conditions of the sub-continent.
“World Cups are special and there’s few better places to play one than in India, which is very much the heartbeat of the modern game,” Walter said.
“As always, the balance of the squad is critical. We’ve got plenty of power and skill in the batting, quality bowlers who can adapt to conditions, plus five all-rounders who all bring something slightly different. This is an experienced group and the players are no strangers to playing in the sub-continent, which will be valuable.”
New Zealand are in Group D at the tournament, also containing Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa and the UAE, with their opening match taking place on February 8 in Chennai against Afghanistan.
