Since receiving his maiden New Zealand call-up for the T20I series against Sri Lanka in December of last year, Bevon Jacobs has undergone significant change. His cricket career has skyrocketed since he scored his first Plunket Shield century, made his ILT20 debut, played alongside Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah at the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, and has signed a CPL contract.
Even though he didn’t play for MI in the 2025 Indian Premier League, Jacobs took full advantage of the opportunity, frequently watching from the sidelines. Jacobs aims to use the skills he learned during his IPL experience to produce impact performances and get closer to his dream 2026 T20 World Cup as he gets ready for a potential international debut in next month’s tri-series in Zimbabwe, which will include New Zealand, South Africa, and the hosts.
“The IPL was an amazing experience, and I got three months there to learn new facets of my game,” Jacobs said. “And I definitely think I’ve made those learnings and improvements. Obviously, implementing into my game is going to be a longer work in progress.
“But taking away from the technical stuff, there’s also a lot of mental learnings that I’ve got from it as well, which I know will change me just for the time being. So, hopefully, I can bring what I’ve learnt from there into the series.
“I mean, that (playing the T20 World Cup) is a massive goal for me. It would be a dream come true to go to that. And I guess for me, it’s just about controlling what I can control. And if that opportunity comes again, that would be pretty special to me.”
A possible debut versus South Africa, his birthplace, would be the first step in achieving that objective. Before his family moved to New Zealand when he was about three years old, Jacobs was born in Pretoria.
Before moving to Canterbury, where he made his senior T20 and List A debuts, he rose via the Auckland route system. But before the 2024–25 domestic season began, Jacobs went back to Auckland.
“I still like to see myself as a Kiwi,” Jacobs said. “I’ve been here for a very long time. But, yeah, I guess that part of it would be pretty cool if that was to be my debut against South Africa.
“I’m sure a lot of families who are over in South Africa and just my family that are here would find that pretty cool.”
Jacobs is at than six feet tall, and his unadulterated strength and reach make him unique. He has an advantage as a boundary-hitter because of such qualities, which attracted the attention of IPL scouts.
For instance, he stood tall and lifted a hard-length ball from the 6’8″ Blessing Muzarabani over extra-cover for four during his January ILT20 debut.
Although he most recently batted at number four for Auckland’s Plunket Shield team, New Zealand and a number of T20 teams seem to see him as a finisher.
“I guess my experience in my career is short, but I’ve had almost two different roles, obviously, starting off in that finisher role,” Jacobs said. “I guess that’s where Mumbai picked up a point of difference for me, which I find really cool. And then, obviously, when I came to Auckland, a little bit more moving up into the middle order.
“Either way, I think for me, maybe that skill set, what’s seen at the moment, is trying to finish off in innings. And I guess I’m just going to try and get better at that step by step, and hopefully that’s what gets me into the side.”
New Zealand’s team is still strong even though they are missing a few key players: Ben Sears (side strain), Devon Conway (dropped), Lockie Ferguson (managing workload), Kane Williamson (with Middlesex), and Kyle Jamieson (personal break). The inclusion of Jacobs is evidence of that depth.
“Yeah, the squad looks really strong. I’m just grateful to be part of it,” Jacobs said. “They’ve got some really experienced names in there. So, for me to just be there is going to be pretty special.
“I’ve spent a little bit of time with him (Rob Walter, the new coach). And just from the conversations we’ve had, it all sounds pretty positive.”
