Winning WTC final against India biggest achievement for any New Zealand player: Bolt
New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult believes that winning the World Test Championship (WTC) against India is one of the biggest achievements for any New Zealand player. Bolt also believes that this spectacular feat is unlikely to be repeated. New Zealand won their maiden World Test Championship in 2021 with an eight-wicket win over mighty India, the team’s maiden ICC title. Bolt feels it will ‘never happen again’ for a country with a population of over five million to reach the WTC final and then beat India, which has so many talented players.
Boult, playing in the Big Bash League, said, “For us to reach that stage as a Test playing nation when we are probably only playing eight Tests a year.” To get positive results for two years and then beat India with a population of 1.4 billion will never happen again. Looking back, it is one of the proudest achievements of any New Zealand player.
A left-arm fast bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways, Boult is one of the best bowling talents across all formats of the game. Last year, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) agreed to release Boult from his central contract as he wanted to make himself available for T20 leagues around the world. He said, “I am proud of what I have achieved on the Test field but I have three young children and I am at the end of my career.” It will not affect his chances of playing in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India later in the year.
“I want to challenge myself again and I hope I can do that,” Boult said. The 33-year-old fast bowler feels it is okay for cricketers to go freelance later in their careers. But the decision of young cricketers to play T20 leagues instead of international cricket is a matter of concern for New Zealand. “It can be the same for people at a certain point in their careers. I think if players who have played international cricket for one year prefer to do so in international cricket, then it can be a matter of concern. “Boult said,” There are not many cricketers in New Zealand. There are not many people.” Despite the paucity of resources, the New Zealand team is one of the stronger teams in the limited over Test format. Apart from winning the WTC title, they were runners-up in the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups and the 2021 T20 World Cup.
