Injury-prone all-rounder Jacob Oram and out-of-favour Scot Styris was today named in the 15-member New Zealand squad for the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in England this June.
Injury-prone all-rounder Jacob Oram and out-of-favour Scot Styris was today named in the 15-member New Zealand squad for the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in England this June.
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The Kiwi selectors, however, dropped all-rounder Grant Elliott and medium-pacer Tim Southee from the squad.
Although Oram played a part in the five-match one-day series against India, he missed the Tests against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men since he was not fully fit. Styris, on the other hand, last played for New Zealand in December against the West Indies.
New Zealand selector Glenn Turner said they included Oram in the squad hoping that he would regain full fitness before the biennial event. He also added that they have selected a versatile squad for the tournament keeping in mind the uncertain weather conditions in England.
"We're really not sure what conditions will prevail. But being able to take 15 players means we have hopefully been able to cover all angles," Turner said. "In selecting the side we have been particularly conscious of selecting players in the middle and lower order who are boundary hitters.
"We have retained aggressive but more orthodox batsmen in the top order and we're looking for that extra aggression lower down the order as well," Turner added.
The selectors have also included wicket-keeper batsman Peter McGlashan, who played in the ODI series against India, and uncapped all-rounder Brendon Diamanti.
"Diamanti is another whose skills fit the short game format. He's a good striker of the ball, an excellent fielder and has good skills with the ball," Turner said.
The Daniel Vettori-led New Zealand side will travel to England in the middle of May and will play practice matches against India on June 1 and Australia on June 2 before the tournament kicks off on June 5.
New Zealand squad: Daniel Vettori (captain), Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Brendon Diamanti, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan, Kyle Mills, Iain O'Brien, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor.
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