New Zealand star pacer Jacob Duffy has opened up about the team’s ambitions following the West Indies series. The Kiwis climbed to the No. 2 position in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 standings after securing a 2-0 victory over the West Indies in the three-match Test series at home, marking a strong start to the fourth WTC cycle.
Having played only one major series this year, New Zealand face a demanding 2026 calendar, with challenging tours of England and Australia, along with a high-profile
home series against India. Duffy stated that he expects to play a crucial role as the team looks to build momentum and achieve something special in the upcoming phase.
"It’s amazing, there’s Test cricket [against] India at home as well, that’s a huge series. It’s exciting for the group and definitely I’ve done two-and-a-half England tours now where I’ve not played, so to go over there and potentially maybe do that and Aussie away too — those are the pinnacles I think. Those are the highlights of your career, potentially, especially in the red-ball scene," said Duffy to ICC.
Duffy broke Richard Hadlee’s long-standing record for the most Test wickets by a New Zealand bowler in a calendar year, finishing as the leading international wicket-taker with 81 scalps. He was also named Player of the Series against the West Indies. Acknowledging the heavy workload, Duffy admitted it had been demanding but said it made him feel valued and important within the team, especially in the absence of Matt Henry.
"I’m just enjoying my career, I don’t know. I don’t look at things too holistically, I guess. It has been an awesome ride; it’s been testing with all the bowlers going down and obviously, the workload is pretty high, but the fact that Tommy [Tom Latham] keeps asking me to bowl the ball, I’d like to view that as a bit of a privilege. You just get to trust you to keep bowling and doing the good stuff, so that’s what I’m trying to do,” said Duffy.
The Kiwis are set to tour India, where they will play three ODIs and five T20Is in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup. Duffy will then feature for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2026. New Zealand’s red-ball calendar will begin with a three-Test tour of England in June, followed by a two-Test home series against India in October and November, before concluding with a challenging three-Test tour of Australia.
