Devon Conway ruled out of the T20 World Cup 2021 final, India tour due to a broken hand

New Zealand have suffered a massive blow ahead of the T20 World Cup 2021 final clash against Australia. In-form batter Devon Conway has been ruled out of the fixture with a broken hand. The southpaw sustained the injury during the semi-final clash against England. He apparently struck his bat right after getting dismissed for 46.

While his efforts took New Zealand to a five-wicket triumph, the southpaw won’t be able to showcase his blitzes in the final clash. Notably, Conway has been a vital part of New Zealand’s T20I team since a while. The southpaw can play the anchor role alongside unleashing big hits at will. In fact, his average and strike rate in T20Is is 50.17 and 139.35 respectively.

Devon Coway is absolutely gutted to be ruled out like this at this time: Gary Stead

With Conway doing well in this competition, New Zealand won’t indeed be happy missing out on his services. Team’s head coach Gary Stead revealed that Conway is absolutely devastated by the news.

“He’s absolutely gutted to be ruled out like this at this time. Devon is hugely passionate about playing for the BLACKCAPS and no one is more disappointed at the moment than he is – so we’re really trying to rally around him,” Stead said in a video posted on New Zealand Cricket’s official Twitter page.

“It looked a pretty innocuous reactionary incident on the field, but the blow obviously caught the bat between the glove padding and while it’s not the smartest thing he’s done there’s certainly an element of bad luck in the injury,” he added. Notably, Conway is also out of New Zealand’s upcoming tour of India which comprises three T20Is and a couple of Test matches.

Stead also revealed that NZC can’t name Conway’s replacement for India T20Is due to protocols. However, the team is hopeful or getting his replacement for the Test series. “Due to the timelines we won’t be bringing in a replacement player for this World Cup or next week’s T20 series against India, but are working through our options for the Test series later this month,” said Stead.

Meanwhile, Tim Seifert, who’s also a wicketkeeper, seems also set to replace Conway for the final clash against Australia. The summit game will take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (November 14).