New Zealand cruised to a 4-1 T20I series vs Pakistan and now enter ODI mode as they continue to showcase Aotearoa's cricketing depth with even more youngsters getting an opportunity. After not making it out of the group stage of the T20 World Cup last year with an experienced squad, Blackcaps have gone 7-3 in T20Is with a fresh group of players and there are clear development plans in place across the formats.

Here are the players who have played the most T20Is since the T20 World Cup last year...

10 games: Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Mitch Hay
Nine games: Jacob Duffy
Eight games: Daryl Mitchell, Zak Foulkes
Seven games: Ish Sodhi
Six games: Tim Robinson
Five games: Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Finn Allen

Here are the stats for players who have played at least five of these 10 games...

Batting

Tim Seifert: 249 runs @ 62.2avg/207sr
Mark Chapman: 191 runs @ 21.2avg/145sr
Daryl Mitchell: 177 runs @ 29.5av/140sr
Michael Bracewell: 174 runs @ 34.8avg/155sr
Finn Allen: 144 runs @ 36avg/212sr
Tim Robinson: 110 runs @ 22avg/128sr
Mitch Hay: 85 runs @ 14.1avg/131sr
Zak Foulkes: 58 runs @ 29avg/149sr
Glenn Phillips: 54 runs @ 10.8avg/102sr
Mitchell Santner: 50 runs @ 25avg/98sr

Bowling

Jacob Duffy: 21w @ 9.7avg/6rpo
Zak Foulkes: 12w @ 19.2avg/8.2rpo
Ish Sodhi: 6w @ 27avg/7.9rpo
Mitchell Santner: 5w @ 25.6avg/6.7rpo
Michael Bracewell: 4w @ 53.2avg/8.8rpo
Glenn Phillips: 4w 2 11avg/7.5rpo

Blackcaps have weaved together older players who are settling into their Blackcaps roles with younger lads on the rise. Hay is 24-years-old and is clearly being developed as the next up wicket-keeper behind Tom Blundell and Tom Latham. Foulkes is Aotearoa's second best T20I bowler in this period and at 22-years-old he is averaging 19 in T20I, First-Class, List-A and T20 bowling. Robinson is also 22-years-old and he has already played 10 T20Is, having also dabbled in a bit of ODI cricket this summer.

Foulkes and Robinson aren't in the ODI squad to play Pakistan. Adithya Ashok (22yrs) returns to the Blackcaps having already played ODI and T20I cricket for Aotearoa, while Muhammad Abbas (21yrs) and Rhys Mariu (23yrs) have been promoted as excellent young cricketers.

Blackcaps selections are balancing the flow of formats. The T20I group is building towards a T20 World Cup so there are still roles available for high performing T20 cricketers and this includes the Foulkes/Robinson duo. Foulkes is Aotearoa's best emerging young T20 bowler and could earn selection in a T20I 1st 11, while Robinson adds depth in the hyper aggressive batting slots.

The ODI team has more space for development. Not only are Blackcaps coming off a major tournament and there is time to brew before the next World Cup, ODI cricket is the best format to develop a wide range of cricketing skills. Batters and bowlers need to be able to show the cricketing patience and discipline that we all love about Test cricket, as well as the skills required to whack boundaries or stop boundaries that are more evident in T20 cricket.

This is probably why Mariu was selected as a late call up with Latham out injured and Will Young dipping out for the last two games. Mariu is already a Plunket Shield monster who has a FC batting average of 61.73 and he is a few runs behind Nick Kelly as the leading run-scorer in Plunket Shield ahead of the last round.

With Kelly named in the initial Blackcaps ODI squad, Mariu has a crack at the top spot. This is notable because Curtis Heaphy (21yrs) was the leading run-scorer in Ford Trophy and Matt Boyle (22yrs) was the leading run-scorer in Super Smash. That would mean a young batter being the leading run-scorer in each competition this summer.

Why was Mariu selected ahead of the best one-day batter in Aotearoa this summer who also has a List-A average of 55.6? Heaphy will get his opportunity soon enough, so will Boyle. Mariu is the best young batter in Aotearoa though and could be in the mix for Test selection this year, so this ODI series vs Pakistan is a good spot to integrate him into the Blackcaps culture.

Here are the summer stats for Ashok and the new Blackcaps...

Adithya Ashok

Plunket Shield: 169 runs @ 16.9avg/30sr | 18w @ 33.5avg/3.6rpo
Ford Trophy: 60 runs @ 30avg/81sr | 10w @ 28.5avg/4.9rpo
Super Smash: 18 runs @ 9avg/112sr | 9w @ 27avg/8.6rpo

Nick Kelly

Plunket Shield: 769 runs @ 57.6avg/61sr
Ford Trophy: 320 runs @ 40avg/101sr
Super Smash: 238 runs @ 26.4avg/127sr

Muhammad Abbas

Plunket Shield: 327 runs @ 25.1avg/56sr | 7w @ 19.5avg/3.1rpo
Ford Trophy: 340 runs @ 42.5avg/88sr | 5w @ 43.8avg/7.3rpo
Super Smash: 185 runs @ 30.8avg/147sr | 2w @ 82avg/9.1rpo

Rhys Mariu

Plunket Shield: 731 runs @ 81.2avg/70sr
Ford Trophy: 296 runs @ 29.6avg/82sr
Super Smash: 15 runs @ 7.5avg/107sr

To support The Niche Cache you can join the Patreon whanau or donate through Buy Me A Coffee. A little goes a long way to fund our mahi. Chur

The way Blackcaps use the formats to develop talent is evident in the Ashok/Ish Sodhi leggy combination as well as the Seifert and Allen featuring in the T20I 1st 11 but not being selected in the ODI squad. Seifert, Allen and Sodhi are competing for T20 World Cup selection and all three could best 1st 11 players at the tournament. The Seifert and Allen space is especially intriguing as they have snapped up their opportunity and this could bump Devon Conway down the depth chart.

Kane Williamson joins Conway is possibly dipping out of the T20I 1st 11. Conway isn't in any Blackcaps 1st 11 as we end the summer (wasn't selected in the Champions Trophy 1st 11, not in our Test or T20I 1st 11s either). Williamson is a legend but the time may have come for Blackcaps to embrace a different batting unit which might be better. That may seem drastic but there are at least six lads competing for top-five roles without Williamson or Conway: Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips.

Incase you were still stuck in the past, here is a team of 11 players who are young or emerging Blackcaps...

Tim Robinson, Rachin Ravindra, Rhys Mariu, Nick Kelly, Muhammad Abbas, Mitch Hay (wk), Zak Foulkes, Nathan Smith, Adithya Ashok, Ben Sears, Will O'Rourke

The selection of Kelly is a different example of the Blackcaps development pipeline. Kelly is 31-year-old and made his FC debut in 2015 for Northern Districts before a stint with Otago and then settling in Wellington. Kelly has demanded an opportunity through his weight of runs and the same goes for Henry Nicholls who returns to the Blackcaps squad.

Nicholls' scores in New Zealand this summer: 103*, 52, 52, 70, 1, 171*, 67.

That's six 50+ scores in five games and seven innings. While the 33-year-old may not be a top-tier Blackcaps batter right now, he has bounced back from a dip in form and injury to dominate domestic cricket. That's worthy of of a return to Blackcaps as injury cover for Latham.

At the same time, 30-year-old Jacob Duffy has developed into the best Blackcaps bowler this summer. Michael Bracewell has become an important all-rounder for Blackcaps at 34-years-old and he continues to captain Aotearoa with Latham out injured.

Add in how 33-year-old Mitchell has grown into an all-format player, 32-year-old Young has commanded opening roles in Test and ODI batting this summer, 30-year-old Kyle Jamieson's always a factor when healthy and even Matt Henry becoming the best Blackcaps bowler in general at 33-years-old.

Aotearoa has an incredible wave of young cricketers on the rise and that's one aspect of why New Zealand is an awesome cricketing nation. The focus on youth can breeze over how older players offer the most value to Blackcaps performances as they have at least a decade of experience and all the lads listed above have improved, showing how effective the Blackcaps development system is.

Not only do these older players get better to earn their selections for each tour or game, they all love representing Aotearoa. Blackcaps contracts are not important to fans because they do not dictate game time and while this is evident in how youngsters play without contracts, it's best shown in how players like Seifert, Allen and Jimmy Neesham are eager to contribute to Blackcaps despite embracing T20 opportunities around the world.

The leadership roles are also noteworthy. Blackcaps essentially have three capable captains in Latham, Santner and Bracewell. Others like Mitchell or Chapman could step up as captains in the future if required but that will probably overlap with younger players being developed as captains by Blackcaps leadership. The Test captain is injured and the numero tahi ODI/T20I captain who just led New Zealand to a Champions Trophy final is busy, all good because there is another fine leader in Bracewell who has already gathered recent experience.

Here are some ODI details...