T20 World Cup: With Devon Conway and Finn Allen recovering, New Zealand coach confident of fully fit squad

NEW DELHI: Coach Gary Stead of New Zealand is optimistic that his team will be fully fit when they head to the Caribbean for the Twenty20 World Cup next month, since both Devon Conway and Finn Allen are recovering well from injuries.

Due to a back ailment, explosive opener Allen was unable to play in the T20 series in Pakistan last month. Meanwhile, batsman Conway had surgery to repair a thumb fracture he suffered in February and is currently out of the Indian Premier League ( IPL ) season.

"Finn Allen's in the nets here behind us at the moment so he's tracking along nicely," Stead told reporters at the team's training camp at Mount Maunganui on Thursday.

"He's still got a little bit of pain in his back but our plan this week is to progress them up and put more intensity through his training each day.

"Devon's over at the IPL still and he is tracking nicely. He's been wicket-keeping and batting in the nets on a regular basis.

"He's back home at the end of the week. We'll have a look at him early next week and make sure that that he's good to go as well."

Before playing Afghanistan in Georgetown, Guyana on June 7, New Zealand's World Cup Group C start is scheduled without any warm-up matches.

In order to prepare for the various conditions they will see in the Caribbean, Stead stated the team has been training at Bay Oval on three different surfaces. He also believed that the majority of the team has been playing enough cricket.

"There's a number of guys who've been in the IPL for the last two months and we've also recently come off the tour to Pakistan," he added.

"There's a lot of experience in the group, who have played in the Caribbean Premier League before, so we'll be leaning on those guys and making sure the training we get in prior to the first game gets us to where we want to be."

(With Reuters inputs)