New Zealand great Martin Guptill has brought down the curtains on his illustrious international career. A top-order batsman, he plied his trade for New Zealand in all three formats and was one of the best openers in the world for the better part of his career.
Martin Guptill made his New Zealand debut in January 2009 during the home ODI series against West Indies. In February of the same year, he made his T20I debut before playing his first-ever Test in the very following month.
He last played for New Zealand in 2022. Overall, the right-handed batsman represented the Black Caps in more than 350 games across the three formats. He played 198 ODIs, 122 T20Is, and 47 Tests for his national team. Guptill scored 3531 runs in T20Is and holds the record for most T20I runs by a New Zealand player.
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In ODIs, he scored 7346 runs and is third in New Zealand’s list of most ODI runs behind his former teammates Ross Taylor and Stephen Fleming. In Tests, he scored 2586 runs. Guptill hit a total of 23 centuries across formats in addition to scoring 76 half-centuries.
“As a young kid it was always my dream to play for New Zealand and I feel incredibly lucky and proud to have played 367 games for my country,” said Martin Guptill.
“I will forever cherish the memories made wearing the silver fern alongside a great group of guys.
“I want to say a huge thanks to all my team-mates and coaching staff over the years, in particular Mark O’Donnell who has coached me since the Under 19 level and been a source of ongoing support and wisdom over my career,” he added.
Speaking further, Guptill said: “To my wife Laura and our beautiful children Harley and Teddy – thank-you. Thank you Laura for the sacrifices you have made for me and our family. You’ve been my biggest supporter, my rock and my counsel through all of the ups and downs that come with the game. I am eternally grateful.
“Finally I’d like to thank all the cricket fans, here in NZ and around the world for all their support throughout the years.”
While Guptill has retired from international cricket, he will continue to play domestic cricket and T20 franchise cricket. At present, he is leading Auckland Aces in the ongoing Super Smash.
Martin Guptill’s illustrious career:
That Martin Guptill is destined for great things became very clear when he became the first-ever New Zealander to score a century on ODI debut in 2009. He achieved the feat against West Indies at Eden Park. Martin Guptill went on to make it to the ICC’s World ODI XI in the same year.
Later in 2015, he also became the first-ever player from his country to score an ODI double-century. Guptill holds the record for scoring three of New Zealand’s top four individual ODI scores. He also scored two centuries in the shortest format of the game in addition to scoring three Test centuries.
Overall, he scored more than 13000 runs in international cricket for New Zealand while representing them from 2009 to 2022.
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