Aotearoa's Blackcaps will play five T20I in Bangladesh and three ODIs in Pakistan before shuffling the deck, ushering in a fresh crop of kiwi cricket troopers to share the good word in Pakistan and United Arab Emirates. Lots of players, lots of squads, lots of cricket and while it's tricky to see through the mangroves and suss out the grand plan of T20 World Cup domination - let's deal with what is in front of us.

The first thing to know about the Bangladesh portion of this T20 extravaganza is that we are dealing with a white ball 2nd 11. Fair play to all involved who will be graced with Blackcaps gear, Blackcaps money and the joy of further Aotearoa's sporting excellence, yet the key insight on offer is to view this through the 2nd 11 lens. White ball with a T20 skew because Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls love a bit of ODI cricket, neither has been a T20 factor since Nicholls snuck into a Sydney Thunder Big Bash League gig a few years ago - don't tell Colin Munro.

Tom Blundell is now the Test wicket-keeper and has played two ODis and three T20Is. Colin de Grandhomme and Matt Henry are steady figures in the Test/ODI arena, Ajaz Patel has been pigeon-holed as a red ball spinner. All of these lads are consistent contributors to Blackcaps cricket, but haven't quite commanded selection in the T20 arena.

De Grandhomme is joined by Finn Allen in my category of 'probably should be the T20 World Cup squad'. De Grandhomme's seam bowling in T20I cricket isn't flash (40.45avg/8.92rpo) which doesn't align with the spin-friendly conditions of the UAE. Allen was the best Super Smash batsman last summer, who quickly made an impact in limited Blackcaps T20I opportunities, who then settled right in among the Indian Premier League big donnies and then did exactly what he did in the Super Smash over in England's T20 Blast.

Regardless of how good (open for debate) Todd Astle and Mark Chapman's spin bowling is, I consider de Grandhomme and Allen as simply better T20 cricketers. In any conditions, any circumstance, I'd want de Grandhomme and Allen in my team ahead of Astle and Chapman. De Grandhomme and Allen are in hot demand around the T20 world, although Blackcaps selectors don't seem to value that marketplace.

With that in mind, pay attention to how de Grandhomme and Allen contribute in Bangaldesh. They are my best T20 cricketers in this specific squad and should perform as such, same goes with the mana of Latham and Nicholls who should find ways to lead with their performances.

Ben Sears is selected and he's the third-ranked hostile seamer in Aotearoa. Lockie Ferguson is first, Adam Milne is second and I'd have Milne in the World Cup squad now that he's stacking up regular T20 cricket (would you rather have Astle or Milne bowling to Rohit Sharma in UAE?). Sears is a sizzling prospect, limbs flapping everywhere as he serves up whippy rockets and while Blair Tickner (1st), Matt Henry (2nd), Hamish Bennett (4th), Scott Kuggeleijn (7th) were all among the leading Super Smash bowlers; Sears had the best record of all these seamers in last summer's Super Smash.

Sears took 9w @ 16.77avg/6.86rpo and the only bowlers with more wickets and a better record than Sears were Auckland's lefty Ross Ter Braak and Jimmy Neesham. What's most interesting here is that Sears enters a pack of seamers who have been on the Blackcaps fringes in recent years, plugging holes when required and generally enjoying their opportunities in favourable kiwi conditions. Sears could be better than all (I like Henry so maybe not him) the seamers named in this squad and slick work in tough Bangladesh conditions could hammer that home.

Two low key upside lads to watch out for are Doug Bracewell and Will Young. Both are certified 2nd 11 lads in Aotearoa and not for any negative reason, they are simply ranked outside the 1st 11 across all formats. Here's what both Bracewell and Young did in last summer's Super Smash...

Young: 7inns, 297 runs @ 42.42avg/174.70sr, 1 x 100, 2 x 50.

Bracewell: 11inns, 223 runs @ 44.60avg/181.30sr 2 x 50 | 10w @ 34.10avg/8.78rpo.

Young is chasing a solid promotion into the 1st 11 ranks and is the next up Test batsman, so expect him to shine. Bracewell has a chance to become a hefty Blackcaps factor again and while the Blackcaps all-rounder ranks are packed like jam, Bracewell is about as naturally gifted for cricket as any other kiwi and has been churning out strong work in the domestic landscape.

Then we have a spinner in Ajaz Patel, plus batsmen who can bowl spin in Rachin Ravindra and Cole McConchie. Like Sears blasting into the group of depth seamers, Ravindra is further along the same path and I'm intrigued about who will have the best impact of these spinners in Bangladesh. Seven bowlers took 5+ wickets in the Bangladesh vs Australia T20I series and five were seamers, including the two best bowlers of the series in Josh Hazlewood and Mustafizur Rahman. So will it be the spin-specialty of Patel, or the role-playing domestic trooper McConchie or the young talent Ravindra who leads the way for kiwi spin bowling?

One last thing to watch out for will be the results. Australia just got smoked by Bangladesh and this glorified 2nd 11 has put up impressive mahi in Aotearoa's Super Smash, then the plethora of T20I fixtures in Aotearoa. That's what has perked my Allen antenna as he is moving through the levels nicely and while we don't need to worry about the Latham/Nicholls/de Grandhomme types; this squad has a lot of dudes who have done well in kiwi conditions and could go either way in Bangladesh.

Consider this a bit of a heat-check of Aotearoa cricket. Is this squad genuinely capable of winning games in a tricky environment against a team that is quietly fizzing into the T20 World Cup? We'll find out which lads are really about that life of chipping in no matter the conditions or opponent and which lads haven't quite hit that nek level just yet.

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