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.

"My first time walking out of the bubble up to the team room, I was kind of head down on my phone and I just heard this Kiwi-style accent saying, G'day mate, and it was Virat Kohli. That was a pretty cool first interaction for me and, yeah, definitely took away the intimidation factor. Those guys were so good to me and so good to talk to about cricket and just life and their experiences. It never felt like there was a level of hierarchy between those guys. They're all very humble in their own right and they've achieved so much within the game and outside of it too and they're just normal dudes and you can talk to them like they're just normal people, which is probably one of their biggest strengths and why they've probably had so much success over the years."

Although he did not get a game during his stint with RCB, Allen made the most of the experience by simply observing and absorbing. He vividly remembers quietly listening to conversations between the likes of AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell, especially around playing spin in subcontinent conditions. One memory, in particular, has stayed with him over the years.

"I remember an innings that AB played against Kolkata in Chennai," he recalls. "He got us to a competitive score. He got 60 or 70 maybe off 30 odd balls and played unbelievably. He was hitting (Varun) Chakaravarthy off the back foot over cover and it was unbelievable to watch. And he came into the changing room and he was angry with himself, didn't feel like he batted his best or something along those lines.

"I couldn't believe someone could play as well as he did and not be happy. So that sort of helped shift my mindset as well because I think always searching for perfection in a perfect game is such a difficult thing. Even watching the best in the world do it and be unhappy with, you know, a really good game, it was pretty eye-opening."

However, further opportunities in the IPL did not come immediately, and his ODI career too failed to take off, with Allen missing out on the 2023 World Cup. The following year, he chose to opt out of a central contract to play more leagues around the world and broaden his game - a decision that has since paid dividends. His T20 returns, which hovered in the 20s through 2022 and 2023, began climbing into the 30s from 2024 onwards, signalling a clear shift in consistency.

The turning point, in many ways, came during last year's MLC, where Allen hit a purple patch and announced it in style with a breathtaking 151, an innings that included a world-record 19 sixes. Even now, he admits the scale of that knock has not fully sunk in, especially in a format where 150-plus scores are a rarity. "I think it's one of those innings that I kind of blinked and it was finished. I guess it's probably not something that you think about ever happening."

A foot injury during the tournament briefly stalled his momentum, but he picked up right where he left off in the Big Bash League for eventual champions Perth Scorchers. Allen finished as the tournament's highest run-scorer and also broke the record for most sixes in a single season, underlining the evolution of his game. He attributes that surge to specific technical and mental tweaks made before the competition.

"One was just my position of my hands," he says. "I have just slightly taken them away from my body and picked my hands up a little bit higher just so that I feel like I've got a bit more room for my swing. I feel like it's helped. And then, yeah, just the only other thing I've probably changed is more my mentality and just the understanding of allowing myself time to get set early. If I take 5 balls or 10 balls, just knowing that I can catch up at the back end if I need to or once I get going, then strike rate tends to not be an issue."

The transition from Perth to the sub-continent was never going to be easy but it was extremely important for Allen given the significance of the next few months in his cricketing career in this part of the world. Working on his 'launch swing', Allen also relied on intel from multiple people on the conditions in Chennai in particular given New Zealand were scheduled to play three games there. "Dev (Devon Conway) obviously got a lot of experience in the subcontinent and had a lot of success, especially in Chennai. We talked around the conditions of the wicket, generally what the pitch has been playing like. I think they talked about the outfield being relaid. We had Sriram, who's with the Chennai Academy. He used to be in New Zealand, based in Wellington and Hamilton. So he came to one of our trainings to just discuss the conditions, what it's been playing like and all that sort of stuff, which was really helpful as well."

All that knowledge should come in handy for a player who is not only eyeing success with New Zealand but is on the verge of finally getting a proper run in the IPL. Allen wasn't hopeful of getting picked in the auction this time but was eventually bought by KKR for his base price of INR 2 Cr. "As always, you just don't know and I guess I watched the start of it (the auction) and seen most of the other batters and wicket keepers go before me and get passive on it," he says. "Didn't think there was a chance. But, yeah, obviously very grateful to be picked up by Kolkata and we've got an exciting group and some pretty cool coaching staff to work alongside as well."

Allen hasn't had any conversations on his potential role in the squad yet. He has just received a few texts from CEO Venky Mysore welcoming him to the KKR set up. But one look at their potential composition suggests that he will be fighitng it out with one of his best mates Tim Seifert for a spot at the top of the order and potentially as a wicketkeeper too. "You know a great thing about us is that we're each other's biggest fans," Allen says on Seifert with whom he is also opening the batting for New Zealand at the World Cup. "So, I think whichever one of us they pick, if they pick one or both or whatever happens, we'll be the first one cheering the other on and hoping for the other one's success."

For a player standing at the intersection of a World Cup campaign and a potentially defining IPL season, the temptation to look too far ahead would be natural. Allen, however, is consciously resisting that. "For me, every game of cricket I play at the moment is the most important," he says. "It's very easy to get caught up in all the exciting things to come, especially with something like the IPL. You do well there and it can set you up for life cricket-wise. So it's very easy, I think, to get caught up in all the exciting things that are to come. And I guess then probably you lose track of where your feet are now."

If the recent signs of consistency continue, that grounded approach could prove just as important as his power-hitting in shaping the next phase of Finn Allen's career.