ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2009 will start from 5 June 2009 in England. After the successful staging of its inaugural tournament in South Africa, cricket fans are expecting similar excitement from the second edition too. However, I do not think New Zealand cricket fans can have high hopes for New Zealand’s success in the upcoming tournament as the Kiwi squad has lost a number of key players over the last few years.

Players like Shane Bond, Darrel Tuffi have joined Indian Cricket League (ICL), and thus, cutting all their ties with New Zealand cricket team as New Zealand Cricket (NZC) does not allow any ICL player to represent the country at international level. There were some other players like hard-hitting opener Nathan Astle who retired from cricket to take part in ICL. Naturally, the strength of New Zealand team has decreased significantly over the last couple of years. There is no doubt, New Zealand has not found any replacement off the players like Shane Bond yet, and it would not be an easy for New Zealand in ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England.