Just as likely to play a short-arm pull on one leg as he is to drive you through the covers on the up, Guptill's ability to dominate has seen him notch up well over 6,000 ODI runs.
Born: September 30, 1986
Role: Right-hand bat
A match-winning mainstay at the top of the order since his debut against the West Indies in 2009, Martin Guptill matches straight-bat elegance with sheer brute force to provide the New Zealand innings with immediate impetus.
Just as likely to play a short-arm pull on one leg as he is to drive you through the covers on the up, Guptill's ability to dominate has seen him notch up well over 6,000 ODI runs.
While the 32-year-old poses as much of a danger to pace bowlers as he does to spinners, a serious injury at the age of 13, which saw him lose three toes on his foot in a forklift accident, threatened to derail his career before it had even begun.
But Guptill bounced back in the aggressive manner which we have seen so often on the pitch, topping the State Shield charts in 2007-8 and becoming New Zealand's highest score in the subsequent Emerging Players tournament in Australia.
That lead to an A side call up, and eventually to the appearances across all formats with the senior side, with varied success.
Guptill's Test career has never really taken off and with Jeet Raval and Tom Latham going from strength to strength he looks unlikely to ever get his spot back.
But he has very nearly reached the ceiling in the shorter format, scoring 237 not out against West Indies in the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup, currently the second-highest individual score in the 50-over format behind Rohit Sharma's 264 against Sri Lanka.
That score saw him break the highest individual score by a Kiwi, which was the 189 he himself scored against England in Southampton in 2013, while in the 2011 World Cup he was also the country's highest run scorer.
A host of domestic clubs and franchises have highly valued his destructive nature as well, including the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, the Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the CPL the Sydney Thunder in the BBL and Lancashire and Derbyshire in the T20 Blast.
As he prepares for his Third World Cup, Guptill's vast experience and natural striking ability make him a fearsome opponent for all opening bowlers, and if the last two editions of the tournament are anything to go by, he may have something special in store this time as well.
NEW ZEALAND PLAYER PROFILES
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