New Zealand faces rain and jetlag before World Cup start

While some members of the New Zealand team are still figuring out what time zone they are in, head coach Gary Stead is optimistic that their tardy start to the T20 World Cup 2024—they are among the last teams to start their campaign—will provide them ample time to get ready and learn from the matches in advance.

Despite navigating the rain in multiple groups since reaching the Caribbean, the team has completed two complete training sessions, which featured centre-wicket scenarios in the absence of warm-up matches.

Although they had the option, New Zealand chose not to play warm-up matches; their team didn’t fully assemble until Sunday, when Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson arrived. Similar to Australia, they permitted players to spend a little period of time at home after the IPL ended, leading to lengthy travels across the world. It implies that since the home season concluded in March, a few players will not have participated in a game.

“You don’t always get ideal situations when people are coming from all over the world,” Stead told the media. We’ve also discovered that jet lag typically affects people rather severely. I am aware that many people have stayed up late, which isn’t ideal for your preparation, but fortunately, we have enough time until the tournament’s fourteenth game to handle it.

Along with many of the teams, there will be concern about the weather because any games that are rained out could affect qualifying, and shortened games could put DLS in peril. Along with this, New Zealand faces the daunting task of opening two crucial games in what could be the hardest group, against Afghanistan and the West Indies.

“It looks like the weather bomb that was hitting here has passed us by,” Stead added. “It’s definitely somewhat of a concern that in such a quick period of time of pool play that you want to play every match you can.”

Finn Allen is back in training after missing the Pakistan tour due to a back injury, but Stead handed the squad of fifteen players a clean sheet. “He’s progressing well and has taken a full part in training so at this stage, touch wood, we are 100% with no injuries,” stated the trainer.

In addition, Stead said he would be closely watching Monday night’s Afghanistan-Uganda game, which was Guyana’s first night game. New Zealand was also playing Afghanistan under lights. Bowlers frequently used a towel to dry the ball, indicating that there was a dew factor.

“If that allows the ball to roll on a bit more, we’ll have an idea. How that plays out beyond tonight will be interesting to watch,” he remarked. Our goal was to assemble a team of players that, in our opinion, are versatile enough to fill in for various positions and circumstances throughout a game. Several players in our group have demonstrated their ability to determine what par is on any particular pitch in the past.

“I do believe that performing during the day will be different from doing so at night. According to the information we are receiving, I believe there will be a significant dew element here to play in the evening.