Wellington youngster Finn Allen's phenomenal Super Smash season hasn't gone unnoticed, with the 21-year-old receiving a late call-up into the lucrative Indian Premier League.
Allen will replace Australian wicketkeeper batsman Josh Phillippe at Royal Challengers Bangalore, with the chance to play and train alongside superstars Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell.
Allen had previously gone undrafted at the 2021 IPL auction, but will pocket 20 lakh ($NZ38,000) for his work, after Phillippe made himself unavailable, due to personal reasons.
He won't be the only Kiwi to feature for Royal Challengers, joining Kyle Jamieson - who sold for $2.86m - while former Blackcaps coach Mike Hesson is the team's cricket director.
The Firebirds batsman was the standout player of the 2020/21 Super Smash season, plundering a chart-topping 512 runs at a strike rate of 194, as well as plundering a competition-high 25 sixes.
Allen also hammered a 16-ball half-century - the third fastest in New Zealand T20 history - against a Central Districts attack that included internationals Doug Bracewell, Blair Tickner and Ajaz Patel.
But despite his rise to the highs of the IPL, Allen has yet to feature for the Blackcaps, missing out on New Zealand's one-day squad to face Bangladesh. The 21-year-old was on stand-by as an injury replacement for Martin Guptill for the recently concluded T20 series win over Australia.
Allen's stint with Bangalore will keep him waiting for the chance to turn out for the Blackcaps, with New Zealand's IPL contingent to miss the upcoming T20 series against Bangladesh later this month.
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