Trent Boult

Trent Boult, the left-handed swing bowler made his First-Class debut when he was picked for the New Zealand 'A' team for the tour of India in 2007. Later on, he was selected for the Under-19 World Cup in 2008. Boult was in and around the New Zealand team, but only made his Test debut in Hobart in December 2011.

Boult's first Test wicket was Michael Hussey as he picked up four wickets in the match and helped New Zealand win a Test in Australia for the first time since 1985. He had a fairly good start to his career as he has picked up wickets against England, West Indies, India and Sri Lanka. His moment of glory came in the second Test against West Indies at Basin Reserve, where he got his first 10-wicket haul. That performance also gave Boult his first Man of the Match award. He continued to have a great time in Test cricket as he picked up 10 wickets in the two games against India, which New Zealand won 1-0. On the basis of his fine performances in Tests, Boult was selected for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. The left-armer grabbed the opportunity of playing in T20Is with both hands and picked up four wickets in two matches.

He was a regular member of the Test side and was always amongst the wickets. He bagged seven wickets in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Christchurch and helped New Zealand win the Test match. He made a comeback into the ODI side for the home series against South Africa in October 2014, but did not feature in the games against Pakistan in UAE. Due to his ability to swing the ball, both ways at pace, the selectors named him in the squad for the 2015 World Cup.

Boult finished joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2015 World Cup with 22 scalps, enhancing his reputation as one of world cricket's exciting new talents with the ball. His high point came in the group stage victory over Australia, where he demolished the eventual champions with 5 for 28. Few of his other impressive spells came against West Indies at Wellington and Afghanistan at Napier where Boult claimed four wickets and three wickets respectively. The match where Guptill scored a double ton was one of them and the other one was against Afghanistan where the Blackcaps steamrolled the opposition by six wickets. New Zealand's horses for courses approach in the World T20, which earned them a lot of accolades, meant that Boult didn't feature in the entire 2016 edition. But that had nothing to do with ability, something which was affirmed by his approx $600K IPL contract when Sunrisers Hyderabad signed him up in 2015.

Unlike most bowlers, Boult has the ability to switch between the three formats effortlessly with minimum fuss. Such has been his rise across formats that there is a talk going around that Boult is slowly but steadily set to displace Southee as the spearhead of the Kiwi pace attack. 2017 was a wonderful year for Boult in white-ball cricket as he picked up multiple 6-fers including a 7-fer.

For his performances, Boult was awarded the Sir Richard Hadlee medal for the best International cricketer of the year at the NZC awards. Boult continued to perform consistently and formed a fearsome duo with Southee across formats. It was no surprise that he was named in New Zealand’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Boult was impressive again, and his campaign included a hat-trick against Trans-Tasman rivals Australia. In the final that saw England win under dramatic circumstances, Boult was entrusted to bowl for New Zealand in the super over. Boult was also named in New Zealand’s squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup and it ended another heart-breaking loss to Australia in the finals. Boult, however, ended the tournament as New Zealand’s highest wicket-taker with 13 scalps to his name. He continued to be a part of New Zealand’s squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup - a campaign that ended for the Kiwis after their loss to Pakistan in the semi-finals.

2022 was a tumultuous time for Boult as he requested to be released from his central contract with NZC to enable him to spend more time with his family and take part in domestic leagues across the globe. Criticized by some for putting his own needs above that of his country, Boult went ahead with the decision that relieved him of the obligation to turn up for New Zealand as and when required. Despite falling down the pecking order, Boult continues to be an important player for the Blackcaps.

Over the last few years, Boult has been a rather silent assassin as his numbers have been phenomenal to say the least but you wouldn't see him in the limelight at all. That's probably a Kiwi trait in cricket - to be unassuming and more behind the scenes than the others. The ability to swing the new ball and cleverly mix the pace/lengths at the death overs makes Boult a deadly white-ball customer while his skills in the longest format are no less. Truly an asset for New Zealand cricket and all the other franchises he represents across the globe.

IPL Through the years

After starting off with the Sunrisers in 2015, Trent Boult’s IPL journey saw him travel across the country. After two seasons with SRH, Boult was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2017 but he played just 5 games. After a good 2018 season with Delhi, with Boult scalping 18 wickets from 12 games, he was retained for the 2019 season but played only 5 games. His standout year came in 2020 after being traded to the Mumbai Indians. Boult was instrumental in Mumbai’s 5th title triumph, picking up 25 wickets, including a spell of 3-30 in the final that earned him the Man of the Match award. Bowling in tandem with Jasprit Bumrah, Boult was exceptional and he was also awarded the Player of the Series award. He had an uneventful, yet decent season in 2021 before being bought by the Rajasthan Royals for a massive INR 8 crore in the 2022 Mega Auction.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan