T20 World Cup: Adam Milne looking to 'make a difference' against India for New Zealand

New Zealand pacer Adam Milne is at the peak of his bowling powers in 20-over cricket, in the lead up to the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021. Originally, there was no room for him in the national team’s 15-man squad for the prestigious tournament. However, a calf tear to Lockie Ferguson has now provided him a way back into the side’s World Cup plans. In the 2015 ODI World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Milne had been sidelined from the semi-finals and the final with a heel injury. However, he has an opportunity to make amends six years later.

“Obviously, it was a bit of a roller-coaster ride the other day [Tuesday] with obviously Lockie going down and then sort of being told: ‘You are in’, and then a few things happening and yeah it’s exciting to be in [the team]. The good thing was I was already part of the group, so it’s exciting to now have the opportunity to potentially play some games in this World Cup and hopefully make a difference with the New Zealand team. When we got to the ground [in Dubai], Gary [Stead, the head coach] came up and sort of had a word to me. I think it was a decent drive to the ground – 60 minutes – I had a little bit of a nap on that (laughs). I think there might have been some things going on behind the scenes while I was having a bit of a snooze, but officially at the ground, they sort of said: ‘Look, the ICC hasn’t allowed it [yet]’. Unfortunate – just the way things go,” said Milne during a virtual media interaction.

“This has been the best period of cricket I’ve had in a long, long time”

Haris Rauf made his presence felt for Pakistan on Tuesday against New Zealand. Milne believes he could have made a similar impact had his inclusion been rubber-stamped by the ICC before the game had got underway.

“Yeah, I think so. If you looked at the way the pitch played and the pitches played throughout the course of the IPL, the faster guys that have been able to hit the wicket hard and create uneven bounce [and] have caused problems to batters. I think the way that their bowlers… Haris Rauf is similar, very fast and hits the wicket hard and causes a bit of inconsistent bounce to pick up wickets. I think I’d have been able to add something to the team but it wasn’t to be, and I thought our guys bowled really well and unfortunately for us, they came out and batted really well towards that end part of the game,” said the New Zealand pacer.

‘I definitely feel like this has been the best period of cricket I’ve had in a long, long time. I’d love to make the most of it and continue to use this period to develop and perform really well at a high level. This is definitely the best period of consistent cricket I’ve had for a long, long time. So, I’m excited to hopefully make a difference with the ball in these games here and really prove this period has been influential for me. I think the form is purely down to be able to play that consistent cricket. Prior to this sort of period, I’ve played a few games, injury, sort of rehabbed and come back. You don’t sort of get that nice flow and rhythm to your bowling you need over a consistent period of time. The changes that I’ve made to get that consistent cricket, I wouldn’t say there has been anything major. I’ve sort of slightly adjusted things I do physically, how I prepare and strength and fitness-wise, but I wouldn’t say there’s been massive switches,” added Milne.