CHENNAI: The last time Finn Allen played an ODI for New Zealand, the 2023 World Cup was yet to happen. Allen, at the time, had 22 caps in the 50-over format and was disappointed about not being a part of the team that went till the semifinal during the marquee event in India. Cut to present, the explosive batter is back in the mix for the ODIs against India. And with good reason.
Between his last ODI, which incidentally was New Zealand's last before they played the World Cup opener against England, and now, Allen has become a globetrotter in T20 cricket, becoming one of the most destructive batters in the format, someone who took New Zealand into the final of the T20 World Cup earlier this year. His overall T20I numbers sums up what he brings to the table. A strike rate of 170 while opening the batting at 28.52 average in 66 innings make him one of the explosive openers going around.
In the ODIs, however, he will have a different role to play — in the middle-order. Wherever he may get to bat, Allen is ready for the challenge and has his eyes on the World Cup next year.
"The first thing is probably a new role and, and learning that on the fly. It's more than double a T20 game. You've got a long time out there to potentially bat. Coming in the middle-order, it offers a variety of factors with where the game's at, the style that you have to play at to potentially progress the game or absorb pressure and things like that," Allen explained in an interaction facilitated by Sony Sports Network.
"It's definitely a different style of play to T20. Getting back into the swing of that will be a challenge that I'm looking forward to taking on. I've been playing one-day cricket for Auckland in the last few years as well. I have been able to adapt my craft to that. Batting potentially in the middle-order opens up a new opportunity to learn and grow my game," he added.
While his first goal remains to make an impact on the game, Allen understands that ODI batting is more situational than T20s. "I'm in a place where I can push go when I need to and try and change the game or have impact on the game. I think with one-day cricket, it's pretty situational. If you're coming in early, you have the potential to need to absorb pressure for a bit and choose your moments to throw the pressure back onto them. There's also all going well, teams flying and I'm coming in needing to progress the game as soon as I can. It's just a play-it-by-ear and, um, read the situation as I see fit and be in a strong position to be able to do either one of those things," he said.
Watch New Zealand vs India 1st ODI live and exclusive on Sony Sports Network Sony VIZHA and Sony LIV on November 4, 2026.
