Colin de Grandhomme

Colin de Grandhomme is an explosive all-rounder who possesses a swashbuckling batting skill-set and swings the ball in both directions. His unmatched capabilities to take on any bowling attack and the knack to bowl consistent lengths makes him one of the best all-rounders emerging from New Zealand. 

The Zimbabwe-born migrated to New Zealand in 2006, for better career prospects. Colin literally has cricket in his genes, his father Laurence de Grandhomme and great-uncle Bunny de Grandhomme, both played for Zimbabwe.

Grandhomme was born in Harare, the sporting capital of Zimbabwe, and played the 2004 U19 World Cup for the African country. Later, he also played for Manicaland and went on to represent Zimbabwe A as well as Under-23 sides, before migrating to Auckland in search of better opportunities. 

In 2006, he got his first break when he played for Auckland Aces in the state championship. By 2008, the all-rounder helped his side win the title. Because of his all-round potential, he got a deserving place in the Blackcaps Emerging Player’s side which toured Australia for the quadrangular series in 2009. 

In 2012, the dashing all-rounder made his international debut for New Zealand in a T20I against his native country Zimbabwe in February and by March, he got into the ODI side as well. He did not impress to keep his place on that occasion, but later went back to the domestic circuit and proved himself for the top-most level. 

Grandhomme made his Test debut in November 2016 and shone in the whites as he took a six-for against Pakistan at Christchurch, to claim the best figures for a New Zealander on debut. His Test performances helped him to regain a place back in the limited-overs sides. From there on, he went on to become a regular feature for the Blackcaps across all formats. A year later, during the first Test against West Indies at Wellington, he scored his maiden ton to secure the record for the second-fastest Kiwi century-maker. 

IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) replaced Andre Russell with the Kiwi all-rounder for the 2017 season. He lit the tournament up with his all-round skill-set with his most memorable performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) where he took 3 for 4 as KKR knocked the opposition out on 49. The very next year, RCB bought Grandhomme for INR 2.2 crore but released him before the 2020 auction. 

Grandhomme was named in the 15-man squad for the 2019 World Cup and he underperformed during the global event. He batted at number six or seven and could only manage to score two half-centuries and scalped six wickets in his ten outings. Since then, he is having a low-point in the latter half of his career and with the emergence of players like James Neesham and Daryl Mitchell, Grandhomme is having a hard time finding his place in the national team.

(As of March 2021)