Kane Williamson all set to return to lead New Zealand against India in ODIs.
Kane Williamson all set to return to lead New Zealand in the upcoming One Day International series against India, as New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced their 14-member squad for the first three matches of five-match ODI series on Wednesday (January 17).
With Jimmy Neesham and Tim Seifert, who were recently part the of national squad which beat Sri Lanka 3-0 in the home ODI series, set to miss the first three ODIs; Mitchell Santner, Tom Latham and Colin de Grandhomme returned to the Black Caps squad for India ODIs.
The NZC announced the squad keeping in mind the upcoming 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and India series will be the crucial part of their preparation for the showpiece event and the squad will be evaluated closely to pick the squad for the 50-over ICC event to be played in England from May 30.
Latham and de Grandhomme drafted into the squad right after the home Lanka series, while Santner returned to New Zealand’s ODI set-up after a gap of over nine months.
Meanwhile, the Black Caps decided to go with Latham over Seifert as the specialist wicketkeeper, while de Grandhomme was named in place of Neesham in the ODI squad, as the all-rounder suffered a grade one hamstring strain during the Sri Lanka ODI, and will miss at least the first three ODIs against India.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead said, “Our two main priorities have been to select and prepare a squad capable of winning what is shaping as a massive series against India, and gathering as much information as possible ahead of the World Cup.”
He added, “Tom and Colin are experienced players in this format and will offer quality in their respective roles, and Mitch and Doug showed us what they are capable of during the T20 on Friday night.”
On the other hand, the five-match ODI series will get underway with the first match on January 23 at Napier and followed by at the Bay Oval on January 26 and January 28, Seddon Park on January 31, while the final will be played at Westpac Stadium on February 3.
New Zealand ODI squad vs India:
Kane Williamson (C), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (WK), Colin Munro, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor
(With Indian Express Inputs)