I was a bit surprised when I got the call: Finn Allen on maiden New Zealand call-up

21-year-old Finn Allen earned his maiden New Zealand call-up after he was picked for the 3-match T20I series against Bangladesh.

The right-hander had earlier revealed that he was hopeful of an opportunity of representing the Black Caps, as there were murmurs of players involved in the IPL to be given a rest. However, the opening batsman was left a bit surprised when he received his first international call-up.

Speaking about the same, Finn Allen said:

"I was hopeful of the opportunity. I heard that potentially the IPL guys were going to miss out in this series. So I was sort of thinking, maybe there's a chance, but again I never thought it was going to happen—That's why I was still a bit surprised when I got the call. I didn't know what that phone call was going to be about, whether it was good or bad news. But I was stoked to get a call in the first place."

The first T20I against @BCBtigers is on Sunday at Hamilton's Seddon Park! The match is a double-header with the @WHITE_FERNS and @AusWomenCricket. Squad details | https://t.co/hpp0rlXrfx #NZvBAN pic.twitter.com/ZmwnjOuG5G

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 23, 2021

After breaking out with blistering performances in New Zealand's domestic T20 competition, it remains to be seen whether the young batsman can replicate the same at the international level as well.

Finn Allen had recently finished the Super Smash T20 campaign as the top run-getter, scoring 512 runs at an average of 56. His impressive strike rate of 193 perhaps made the selectors sit up and take notice.

Finn Allen talks about his batting approach

Finn Allen's performances helped the Wellington Firebirds to win a domestic T20 competition last year.

Talking about his batting style, Finn Allen revealed that he likes to keep things simple and just tries to watch the ball as closely as possible.

"It's the simplicity of what I'm trying to do when I'm out there. Keeping my head as clear as I can. Literally just focussing on watching the ball and trying to hit it as hard as I can. From that comes things like my sequence, my pre-delivery movement- getting my hands back and up - all that sort of stuff. But yeah, it just comes back to me being simple and watching the ball, really." the young opener said.

Many IPL-bound New Zealand players have been given a rest by the Black Caps selectors. Hence, the likes of Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Jimmy Neesham and Tim Seifert have missed out.

The first T20I starts on Match 28 in Hamilton.

New Zealand's squad for the 3-match T20I series against Bangladesh

Tim Southee (c), Finn Allen, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Will Young.

Finn Allen replaces Josh Philippe for #IPL2021. We regret to inform that Josh Philippe has made himself unavailable for IPL 2021 due to personal reasons. As a result, we have picked an exciting top order batsman in Finn Allen.#PlayBold #Classof2021 pic.twitter.com/DaasJ58ngk

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 10, 2021