James Douglas Sheahan Neesham is a true all-rounder both on field and on social media. While on the ground he is well known for hitting some mean lusty blows and scalping useful wickets but off field he is equally famous for sending social media users into laugh-hysterias with his witty one-liners and savagery.
James Douglas Sheahan Neesham is a New Zealand all-rounder cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right arm medium bowler. He has always stepped up to the stage with crucial performances whenever New Zealand needed them. Neesham was born on 17 September 1990 in Auckland, New Zealand and always wanted to represent New Zealand at the highest level.
Neesham made his first-class debut for Auckland in 2010 at a young age of 20. However, in 2011, he decided to move to Otago and it worked wonders for him. He scored 205 runs at 51.25 including two fifties in eight list A matches and also took 14 wickets at an average of 23. He was the third-highest run-scorer as well as wicket-taker for Otago in the season. He picked up his career-best figures of 5-44 against Wellington.
Neesham performed fantastically in the 2013 Champions League for the Otago Volts, aiding them in many victories in the early stages of the tournament.
James Neesham was bought by the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) for the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League. However, the lack of opportunities meant that he played only four games and was ultimately dropped from the squad in the next season.
After being out of IPL’s reckoning for good 6 years, James Neesham after his World Cup heroics was picked up by the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) for Rs 50 lakhs for the 13th season of IPL, scheduled to begin from September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
James Neesham made his ODI debut in January 2013 and did not contribute much. However, after his debut series, Neesham performed in patches but the indifferent form kept him in and out of the team routinely. As a result he narrowly missed the bus for the home World Cup in 2015 and was absolutely gutted. Neesham was part of the one-day side over the next two seasons but was dropped after the 2017 Champions Trophy.
On 3 January 2019, in the first ODI against Sri Lanka, Neesham scored 34 runs in one over, including five sixes. In April 2019, he was named in New Zealand's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup..
In the tournament he was outstanding with bat and ball then in the final against England claimed three wickets and produced the final-ball run out to tie the scores after 50 overs. He was entrusted with the bat in the Super Over and scored 13 off 5 balls including a huge six off Jofra Archer. He was at the non-striker's end for the last ball when Martin Guptill was run out coming back for a second run that would have won New Zealand the World Cup.
Neesham made his T20I debut for New Zealand against South Africa at Durban in December 2012 following some impressive performances in the shorter formats in the domestic season. His debut match was not one to remember as New Zealand were bundled out for 86 runs, in which Neesham contributed with 10 runs.
In February 2014, Neesham made a century on Test debut against India and was at the other end when skipper Brendon McCullum became the first Black Cap to score a Test triple century. He hit a 137 runs inning on his debut which incidentally is the highest score on debut by a number 8 batsman in Tests. He has so far played 12 Tests and scored 709 runs at an average of 33.76.
