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Will think about my international future after T20 World Cup: Neesham
Follow UsNew Zealand lost the 2015 and 2019 World Cup final before losing the 2021 T20 World Cup final to Australia
James Neesham has cleared that while winning the T20 World Cup has been his biggest aim now, he will pause and think about his international future following the tournament. Neesham has been a regular on the T20 circuit for a while now and is currently taking part in the Bangladesh Premier League.
"I don't take too many long-term goals. The obvious goal is the T20 World Cup coming up in a couple of month's time, and trying to win that for New Zealand. After that, I will probably take a pause and have a think about my international future, whether I will keep playing for New Zealand or I will go for full-time T20s," Neesham told reporters in Bangladesh, reported Cricbuzz.
"I think as an all-rounder, you played until 35-36 years of your age, which is a pretty good effort. So I will try to stay as fit as it can and stay in good shape. Hopefully, I will stay injury-free and see how long I can play cricket and contribute to winning teams," he added.
Neesham was full of praise for the rise of Bangladesh as a cricketing nation and believed that they could be a dark horse of world cricket. He cited the example of how New Zealand almost lost the series to Bangladesh at home in December.
"I think we were quite lucky to get away from the T20 series in New Zealand. We probably could have lost the series as well. Bangladesh cricket has gone from strength to strength over the last few years, especially the fast bowling department,” Neesham said.
“We used to almost bully Bangladesh cricket in our conditions which are bouncy and we had seam bowlers a lot quicker and lot bouncier than them. But what we have seen in the last couple of tours, you got a pacer Shoriful, who can swing the ball with pace and get good bounce.
"They obviously had a strong tour in New Zealand and they should be happy with that. None can take them for granted in the upcoming T20 World Cup. It won't be that easy. They will be an extremely challenging team with the kind of conditions we have seen in the West Indies. I think there is a lot of potential in Bangladesh cricket and there are strong players around," he concluded.
