Five years into his international career, Finn Allen sounds like a player who finally feels settled in his own game. The last few months in particular have been nothing short of productive. His young career appeared to be at a crossroads back in 2024 when he opted out of a national contract. But fast forward to 2026, Allen is a key member of a New Zealand outfit looking to win its first World Cup. "There's been a lot of work put in over the last couple of years around that consistency piece," Allen admits in a chat with Cricbuzz. "I guess it's all starting to come to fruition now."

Allen made his bow for New Zealand in 2021 at home against Bangladesh with a reputation for being a swashbuckling opener. A duck in his first-ever outing followed by 17 in the second naturally cast doubts on his young mind if he truly belonged at this level. "My first series against Bangladesh, I probably felt like I didn't (belong) until that last game," he recalls. That last game of the series was indeed the first time the world witnessed his talent. Allen smashed 71 off just 29 balls in that fixture.

A maiden international century followed suit the next year. But it was his maiden World Cup outing against Australia by the end of 2022 that actually instilled some real confidence. Allen set up New Zealand's famous win in Sydney over the hosts with a quickfire 16-ball 42. "When we went to the World Cup in Australia and did okay against them in that first game, I think that's when you kind of start to feel like... when you do have a decent innings against one of the top sides in the world, then you feel like you can maybe do it against anyone and do it for a bit longer." However, that certainly wasn't the case. The numbers highlighted that consistency wasn't his forte. His batting average in T20Is across his first three years was 26, 21.63 and 21.3. "Cricket humbles you pretty quickly and until you do it for an extended period of time, you feel like you're probably questioning yourself a little bit every now and then."

Yet, a lot of learnings for the New Zealand opener came in those formative years in probably the biggest stage of them all: the Indian Premier League. Allen was picked by RCB as a replacement for Josh Philippe prior to the 2021 season. For a 21-year-old, it was quite an intimidating experience walking into a dressing room filled with some of the biggest names in the sport. "I was only 21 when I got over there but luckily, I had a good mate Kyle Jamieson with me," Allen recalls.