T20 WC: Keeping fresh and not thinking about cricket too much, says Martin Guptill
Oct 25, 2021
Sharjah [UAE], October 25 : New Zealand batter Martin Guptill revealed how the team is living the bio-bubble life and spending time during the tournament.
Guptill has tuned up for the tournament with 30 off 20 balls against Australia and 41 off 20 balls against England in the warm-ups at the Tolerance Oval.
"I can tell you we've got some pretty heated table tennis going on and I'm a way down the board, but I can still hear it. The boys are keeping their minds fresh and getting amongst each other and there's some coffee drinks going around as well," said Guptill.
"So, we're keeping fresh, not thinking about cricket too much. But now that cricket is on, the boys are getting stuck in and watching that as well. I had about five-six guys in my room yesterday (Saturday) for about half an hour or so watching the Australia-South Africa game," he added.
Regarding New Zealand's upcoming clashes with Scotland and Namibia, the batter said that the team needs to work hard, in order to win those matches.
"Yes, it's not going to be easy. There are a couple of teams there we haven't played before and we haven't played Scotland in a long time. So, we've got to sit down a bit at meetings and go through the footage and watch those teams. It's going to be a tough pool, but also a great challenge for us as well," said Guptill.
Guptill was New Zealand's top scorer in the 2016 T20 World Cup, making 140 runs in four innings at an average of 35 and strike rate of 157.30 in the side's run to the semi-finals.
"Obviously I'd have liked to have gone better [in the UAE], but you know that's all in the past now. In the last World Cup, I think I was our top run-scorer in the T20 World Cup. I can draw some on that experience and that confidence that I've been able to do that before. So, I'm just looking forward to going out and doing my thing and just making sure I'm as positive as I can be at the top of the order," said Guptill.
New Zealand will now be facing Pakistan for their next ICC Men's T20 World Cup clash on Tuesday in Sharjah.
