Tarouba (Trinidad): Ace New Zealand pacer Trent Boult on Saturday confirmed that the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup will be his final appearance for the Kiwis in the marquee tournament.
New Zealand are already knocked out of the T20 World Cup and will play their final league game against the minnows Papua New Guinea at the Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad on Monday.
Addressing the press conference after the Black Caps' thumping nine-wicket victory, Boult confirmed, "Speaking on behalf of myself, this will be my last T20 World Cup. That's all I have to say."
The left-arm pacer, who debuted in 2011, has been a key member of the Kiwi's golden generation in ICC tournaments, helping his side to reach the 2015, 2019 ODI World Cups and 2021 T20 World Cup finals and clinch the inaugural 2021 World Test Championship.
Whether Boult will continue to play for New Zealand in any capacity remains uncertain as he had opted out of a central contract in 2022, choosing to play T20 franchise cricket around the world instead. However, he hasn't mentioned anything about retirement from the Test and ODI formats. Notably, he last played for Kiwis in last year's ODI World Cup semi-final clash against India while the Test match against England at Leeds, Headingley in June 2022.
Speaking about the match against Uganda and their dismal performance in the first two games of the tournament, the 34-year-old said, "Definitely (it was) not the start we wanted in the tournament. A hard one to take. Just gutted we're not going any further. There's a lot of pride in the dressing room and in playing for the country, we've had some great records across however many years. Unfortunately, we've been off the ball the last couple of weeks and that's what it takes to not qualify. But any time you get to represent the country, it's a proud moment."
New Zealand have been a picture of consistency, having qualified for the semi-finals of the showpiece every time since 2014.
"It's unfortunate, but there's still some tremendous talent inside that dressing room and coming through the ranks in New Zealand cricket, so we're a proud nation and we'll continue to go that way," he added.
Boult, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is the third leading wicket-taker for Kiwis across all formats with 607 scalps to his name. The left-arm pacer is also the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs with 317 (78 matches) and 211 scalps (114).
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