When Finn Allen was asked this March to name the first thing he would do if he woke up as his RCB team-mate Virat Kohli the answer was revealing. “I would probably walk into the streets to see how it feels to have everyone chase after you,” he told in a video released by RCB.
That ethereal fandom is yet to hit of course but at the start of this T20 world cup, Allen experienced what Kohli has felt a few times during his international career.
In the world cup opener on October 22nd, the SCG cauldron was simmering as the young New Zealander faced up to Mitchell Starc, one of the most lethal bowlers of the modern era. In the background, a 45000-strong home crowd were hollering for Starc. Boom. The 23-year-old Kiwi wallops one over Starc’s head.
The memories of the 2015 final of Brendon Mccullum losing his stumps, charging down the wicket to Starc at the MCG might be still fresh in the minds of Kiwis supporters. The young Finn Allen couldn’t care less about the history. It seemed he wanted to create his own. He just went at the full-pitched delivery not worrying about the bowler and most importantly the occasion and history.
That boundary was just the beginning. He smashed a world-class attack, silencing the home crowd in a blink as he looted 42 off 16 with five 4’s and three 6’s.
Allen’s counterattack set the tone for the historic New Zealand triumph over Australia by a gigantic margin of 87 runs. Australia never quite recovered from that sucker punch even as New Zealand marched on to the semifinal.
However, the recognition for his fearless attitude he got after the knock against Australia wasn’t the beginning; he has been a star in making for a while.
In a game against Pakistan in the tri-series, ahead of the world cup, Allen had smashed six sixes, three of them against the pacer Shahnawaz Dahani and once deposited Shadab Khan over long-on.
