The Blackcaps spark up the Aotearoa summer with a T20I series vs India. Here are the five most interesting kiwis to watch out for...

Glenn Phillips is in his best year of all-format batting. This puts him in the mix with Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra as the best all-format batters for Blackcaps (although the focus on Ravindra's injury was funny because he's not among the best T20I batters for New Zealand and is solid in this format, while excellent in the longer formats). Phillips is averaging 30+ in all three formats in his career with excellent strike-rates for each...

Test: 35.4avg/72sr
ODI: 42avg/103sr
T20I: 31.7avg/143sr

He has a 50+ score in all seven Test and ODI innings this year, including a century in each of those formats. In T20Is, Phillips is one of three batters with 300+ runs for Blackcaps this year and he's well past that mark on 357 runs @ 35.7avg/155sr. Phillips has been less effective with the ball and will probably operate as the second or third spinner depending on if Michael Bracewell plays.

Phillips is the most interesting Blackcaps player in this series as well as this summer. Him batting four in the majority of his 85 T20I innings reflects his status as one of the best T20I cricketers for Aotearoa and that has been boosted by Phillips becoming a 1st 11 player in ODIs and Tests. This makes him one of the best Blackcaps overall and his legend will only grow with his usual antics in each format this season.

Phillips joins Tim Seifert and Finn Allen as the leading run-scorers for Blackcaps in T20Is this year. Who's fourth? Mitchell Santner. Santner has been much better in T20I batting this year than Ravindra, Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway and Tim Robinson. Somehow Santner was even better in T20I batting last year and they are his best years of T20I batting in his career...

2025: 137 runs @ 45.6avg/188sr
2026: 260 runs @ 32.5avg/143sr

This is linked to Santner being captain. His bowling average is a wee bit higher than it was when not captain but it's still good, while there is a notable jump in his batting mahi...

Captain: 29.9avg/136sr | 27.9avg/7.2rpo
Not captain: 14.5avg/125sr | 21.6avg/7.1rpo

Santner is the best all-rounder for Blackcaps in this squad and his presence as captain in the shorter formats has been underrated. His performances will be crucial for Blackcaps and that includes his batting just as much as his other duties.

Bevon Jacobs has all-format potential for Blackcaps but he is a T20I player for Aotearoa right now and he will need to command selection in the other formats via runs in T20Is. Jacobs has gone from four T20Is last year to seven this year and his strike-rate has increase from 121 last year to 157 this year, showing some signs of progress.

Jacobs also has divine alignment in his six-hitting oomph. He has 10 fours and 10 sixes in T20Is, along with 75 fours and 71 sixes in T20s. Aotearoa has many tremendous six-hitters on the rise (Lachlan Stackpole's leading the youngster charge) but Jacobs is the best and local fans are yet to get the full BJJ experience on home soil.

The intrigue for Jacobs stems from his involvement for Blackcaps. He seems likely to start the series outside the 1st 11 as the freshest member of the squad and Jacobs has batted five in most of his T20I innings, which is a cluttered area of the kiwis line up. Phillips, Mitchell and Chapman are ranked ahead of Jacobs in the middle order. Jacobs has batted six and seven as well in T20Is but Blackcaps will have Santner, Bracewell and some seaming all-rounders filling these spots.

Then there are the ramifications of Jacobs finding a groove. This will flow into the other formats but specifically in T20I, runs from Jacobs will put more pressure on those players who are out of sight, out of mind with Blackcaps like Chapman and Robinson. Jacobs needs runs though and he may only have a couple of innings vs India to showcase his talent.

Zak Foulkes is a better T20I cricketer than Nathan Smith at the moment. Blackcaps have so many skillful all-rounders that there are opportunities to have Foulkes and Smith in the same Test/ODI teams, things skew towards Foulkes in T20Is. Smith's bowling in T20Is isn't quite at the level of the other seamers either so he is unlikely to be a 1st 11 player selected primarily as a bowler.

Foulkes has now played 22 T20Is for New Zealand and he's averaging below 30 with the ball in all three formats for Blackcaps. He also has a useful T20I batting strike-rate of 149 which is higher than 130 in T20s. Foulkes' has been less effective in T20I bowling this year though with a hefty jump in his batting strike-rate...

2024: 11.3avg/142sr |23.1avg/8.3rpo
2025: 26avg/137sr | 28.8avg/8.9rpo
2026: 13.3avg/167sr | 40.2avg/10rpo

His other selection battle will be with Bracewell and the abundance of seamers may hinder Foulkes, as well as giving Foulkes space to build into the season. He may not be 1st 11 in all three formats right now but Foulkes has played at least six games in all three formats and is likely to feature in most squads this season.

Jacob Duffy was dishing up legendary mahi in all three formats before taking a break this winter. His T20I bowling average of 20.2 is the second lowest for all Blackcaps with 40+ wickets behind Lockie Ferguson and Duffy was in similar zones in the other formats as well.

Before his break, Duffy had stacked up his worst year of T20I bowling with 9w @ 39.1avg/10.7rpo. He returned to Blackcaps with a solid but not dominant 5w @ 32.6avg/5.6rpo in five ODIs vs West Indies. Along with his excellent all-format mahi, Duffy has 40w @ 12.2avg/7.2rpo for T20Is in Aotearoa to balance things out.

Duffy is part of the group of nine seamers who form the Test top-tier but he didn't feature in the series win vs a mediocre cricket cartel nation earlier this year. All of which makes this next wave of Blackcaps cricket fascinating for Duffy as we try and suss out what level of bowler he is, especially with plenty of younger seamers hungry for game time.

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