New Zealand suffered a major setback when their campaign in the T20 World Cup of 2024 came to a premature end and this will be the first time they will not appear in any limited overs world cup semi-final since the 2014 edition. This early end to the campaign comes on the back of IPL New Zealand’s consecutive defeats against Afghanistan and the West Indies in Group C, which eventually cost the Kiwis dear.
On Thursday, Afghanistan’s seven-wicket win over Papua New Guinea in Trinidad dashed New Zealand’s slim hopes of progressing further into the tournament. Hosts West Indies joined Afghanistan as two teams advancing from Group C to ‘Super Eights’.
The New Zealand squad did not play any warm-up match before going into T20 World Cup. Moreover, some key NZ players were engaged with Indian Premier League (IPL) making them miss out on Pakistan tour that could have helped them to prepare for this championship.
Though there are several reasons behind New Zealand’s elimination at such an early stage, Pakistani media outlets created an impression that it is because of possible interruptions caused by IPL involvement by their players.
One journalist wrote on ‘X’, “New Zealand had a great chance to prepare themselves for World Cup 2024 on Pakistan tour but their main players choose IPL and now they are out of the World Cup.”
“Send C teams to tours, prefer money & IPL & never play together for World Cup preparation. Sorry but KW & NZ deserve this situation,” posted another journalist, mentioning skipper Kane Williamson’s initials.
Former New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan reacted by saying “Very poor take. You lost games to our C side, Ireland and the USA” through his X profile.
