New Zealand pacer Matt Henry has been named as a replacement for Finn Allen in the T20I squad on Friday (August 27) for the upcoming five-match T20I series against Bangladesh starting on September 1.

Allen, who was fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday (August 24) after arriving from England, where he was part of the Birmingham Phoenix in the recent The Hundred competition in the UK.

The 22-year-old is currently in quarantine and recovering from COVID-19. However, the right-hander will remain with the team and continue to be monitored by New Zealand team doctor Pat McHugh.

Coming to Henry, the right-arm pacer, who hasn’t played T20Is for the last 4 years, wasn’t a like-for-like player to replace Allen for the Bangladesh tour but has had both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and even he had already been in managed isolation for his return to New Zealand side being part of the ODI squad for the Pakistan series, which made him the most logical replacement.

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Another reason is that a seven-day isolation period on arriving in Bangladesh, which forced New Zealand to opt against calling up any of the players who are still currently in the UK after The Hundred.

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said in a statement on Friday: “Matt's clearly not a like-for-like replacement for Finn, but he expands our selection options and, in the current circumstances, is the best equipped to join the side at such short notice.”

The coach further explained, “He's received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccination and already has an MIQ bed allocated for his return. And, in the current environment, we remain mindful of the need to carefully balance player workloads.”

Stead signed off by saying, “We're not prepared to risk anyone's well-being by asking them to commit to extremely long periods away from home.”

(With ANI Inputs)