The New Zealand team has announced a name of nine players from the 15-member squad for the One-dayers against India next month. The remaining six cricketers will be included from the New Zealand A team that is touring India currently to play unofficial test matches.
Both the sides will take on each other for a three-match ODI series which is scheduled to start from October 22 in Mumbai followed by Pune and Kanpur. The ODI series will be followed by three T20I’s. The squad for the T20 series will be named with the announcement of the remaining six players.
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson while talking about the selection said, “The nine we’ve picked have made up the core of our ODI team for a while and all of them have experience playing in India. With a number of our top guys already playing in India, it’s helpful to be able to select the squad in two parts. With six spots left, there’s an obvious incentive for the players in New Zealand A to perform and put their best foot forward.”
There are major changes in the New Zealand squad from the last time they donned the national team jersey in the Champions Trophy earlier this year. While all-rounder Corey Anderson has still not fully recovered from his back injury, Neil Broom and Jimmy Neesham find themselves out of the squad. Mitchell McClenaghan has decided not to renew his national contract to try out his opportunities in different T20 leagues. Jeetan Patel and wicket-keeper Luke Ronchi have decided to hang their boots from international cricket who were a part of the ODI squad for the Champions Trophy.
“It will be disappointing for James and Neil, but we’ve talked through the areas that we’d like to see them work on and if we see development, they’ll certainly both come into the reckoning come the home summer,” Hesson said when asked about the exclusion of Neesham and Broom.
“Neil was really effective for us batting at three or four last season, but we have quality, established batsmen in those positions and we’d like to see Neil develop his game further to show he has the skills to bat at five. Jimmy needs to go back and really dominate domestic cricket with both bat and ball. We know Jimmy is a talented player, but we’ve spoken with him around improving the consistency in all areas of his game” the national team coach concluded.
New Zealand squad (nine of 15 members so far): Martin Guptill, Tom Latham (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult.
