Mitchell Santner has been named the captain of the New Zealand white-ball side for their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. This will be New Zealand’s first white-ball series since the T20 World Cup in June earlier this year where they suffered a shock group-stage exit.
Kane Williamson stepped down as captain after the disappointment of the T20 World Cup. Santner has been announced as the skipper only for this tour. A permanent captain will be named during the home season later this year. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced the same along with the 15-member squad through a press release.
New Zealand have included a couple of uncapped players in the 15-member squad. All-rounder Nathan Smith and wicket-keeper batter Mitch Hay have earned their maiden call-ups.
Smith has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket in New Zealand. However, he had a brilliant run in the 2023-24 season across formats. He took 11 wickets in eight games in the Ford Trophy (50-over competition) and picked up 13 scalps in 10 Super Smash T20 matches at an economy of 6.91. The 26-year-old pacer returned with 33 wickets at an average of 17.18 in the Plunket Shield (red-ball tournament). He got 122, 111 and 245 runs respectively in the three formats.
These performances earned him the NZC’s Domestic Player of the Year last season. Smith featured in the T20 Blast in England as well this year and got eight wickets along with 144 runs in nine matches.
Meanwhile, Hay scored 170 runs at a strike-rate of 165.04 in the Super Smash T20 last season. He made 257 runs in 10 innings in the 50-over tournament. In the Plunket Shield, he racked up 562 runs at an average of 51.09.
New Zealand Test regulars to prepare for England series
As many as eight players from the current New Zealand Test squad that is playing in India have been rested. Tom Blundell, Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee and Kane Williamson are the ones that were not picked, given the three-match Test series against England is scheduled to start on the 28th of November.
Apart from Smith, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy and Zak Foulkes are the premier pacers in the squad. Ish Sodhi and skipper Santner will lead the spin attack.
New Zealand’s white-ball tour of Sri Lanka starts with a two-match T20I series on the 9th of November before the three-match ODI series kicks off on the 13th of November and finishes on the 19th.
NEW ZEALAND SQUAD: Mitchell Santner (captain), Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Dean Foxcroft, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Tim Robinson, Will Young, Mitch Hay (wicket-keeper), Michael Bracewell, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Nathan Smith.