First T20 international: Black Caps v Bangladesh; Where: McLean Park, Napier; When: Wednesday, 7.10pm; Coverage: Live on TV1, TVNZ+; live updates on Stuff

Will it be a case of seventh time lucky for the Black Caps when it comes to winning a white-ball World Cup next June?

The road to the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States begins in earnest this week, with the three-match series against Bangladesh in Napier and Mount Maunganui.

Five home matches against Pakistan then follow in January, followed by three against Australia in February and another five in Pakistan in April – where the Black Caps won't have their Indian Premier League stars.

Ensuring they have the best six batters possible looms as one key challenge, with Mark Chapman and Tim Seifert putting plenty of pressure on the incumbents in the past 12 months.

The other is getting their bowling mix right. Do they stick with the group that has served them well at the last two events, in the United Arab Emirates in 2021 and in Australia in 2022? Or is it time for a change?

The knockout stages of major international tournaments have become familiar surroundings for New Zealand's men's cricket team over the past decade, starting with their run to the final of the one-day international World Cup at home in 2015.

They then went to the final again in England in 2019 and to the semifinals in India earlier this year.

At T20 World Cups, the run began with a return to the semifinals after four tournaments away in India in 2016. The Black Caps made their first – and to date – only final in 2021, losing to Australia, then exited in the semifinals against Pakistan last November.

The XI in that defeat at the Sydney Cricket Ground: Devon Conway, Finn Allen, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.

Will the lineup be the same when the next World Cup starts on June 4 next year?

Or are changes needed for the Black Caps to finally get over the line, at a tournament where there will be no shortage of contenders?

Mark Chapman is the batter from outside the last World Cup XI who has made the strongest case for inclusion in the time since then, scoring 568 runs at an average of 47.33 and a strike rate of 144.16.

Tim Seifert has also pressed his case for a recall, scoring 357 runs at an average of 39.66 and a strike rate of 154.54.

But is there room for either of them? There is this week, with Conway and Williamson both resting, moves that have delayed the big selection decisions at least until Pakistan's visit in three weeks' time.

That series will throw up another wrinkle, with Neesham set to be absent playing in South Africa's SA20 competition. That could open the door for one of Chapman or Seifert, but not if a like-for-like replacement all-rounder is wanted. That would instead put recent ODI debutant Josh Clarkson in the box seat.

Man-of-the-moment Rachin Ravindra comes into the mix somewhere after that and is likely vying with Michael Bracewell – who may not be back from his Achilles injury in time – as a spin depth option.

Left-armer Santner and leg-spinner Sodhi look set to be the Black Caps’ frontline duo in that speciality for the fourth T20 World Cup in a row, with Phillips’ off-spin also available to be called on from time to time.

Might the Boult-Southee-Ferguson seam trio be broken up?

At the 2021 World Cup, Adam Milne took Ferguson’s place as a result of injury, and he would be the leading contender to force his way in next year, having taken 12 wickets at 27.33 over the past 12 months.

With Boult unavailable and Ferguson injured, Milne will line up alongside Southee this week, with Jacob Duffy and Ben Sears the other two seamers in the squad.

Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Ben Lister and Henry Shipley are also in the wider mix, but all four are injured at present.

Of the options beyond Milne, Lister has had the most impressive record since the last World Cup, taking 10 wickets at 30.60.

With 11 T20s on the cards in the home summer, followed by five in Pakistan, there should be opportunities for several seamers to put their hands up in the months ahead.

Black Caps v Bangladesh – T20I series

Squads

Black Caps: Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee

Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Litton Das, Rony Talukdar, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Rishad Hossain, Tanvir Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib

Fixtures

Wednesday, 7.10pm: 1st T20I; McLean Park, Napier

Friday, 7.10pm: 2nd T20I; Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui

Sunday, 1pm: 3rd T20I; Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui

-Andrew Voerman/Stuff.