Mitchell Santner To Captain New Zealand On Their White-Ball Tour To Sri Lanka

Mitchell Santner has been named captain as the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) unveiled their 15-member squad for the upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. The tour will begin in Dambulla on November 9.

New Zealand Cricket has indicated that a new long-term skipper for both the ODI and T20I formats will be announced in the summer. The team has not played any ODIs this year, and their most recent T20I was in the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States, when they were eliminated at the group stage.

Mitchell Santner set to captain New Zealand vs Sri Lanka

Aside from Mitchell Santner, Michael Bracewell, Glenn Phillips, and Ish Sodhi will share spin bowling responsibilities. Lockie Ferguson will head the pace attack, which includes Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, and Josh Clarkson. Tim Robinson has received his second call-up following a strong performance in Pakistan in April.

Will Young and Henry Nicholls are expected to boost the batting lineup. Nicholls recently scored 301 runs in six Ford Trophy matches, averaging 75.25. Notably, prominent players including Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, and Kane Williamson were rested.

Nathan Smith, a bowling all-rounder, and Mitchell Hay, a wicketkeeper-batsman, have received their maiden calls to the national squad for the Sri Lanka tour. Smith was just named New Zealand Cricket’s Men’s Domestic Player of the Year. The all-rounder also signed his first central deal last month.

Nathan Smith had a great season for Wellington, taking 24 wickets in domestic white-ball events, including a best bowling performance of 4 for 5 against Otago during the Super Smash. Mitchell Hay debuted for New Zealand A last year and was crowned as Canterbury’s Male Player of the Year in April.

Sam Wells said that they need to develop depth in the squad during the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. The selector said that this tour is part of the preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy in February 2025, as well as the 2027 Cricket World Cup.

“This tour is the beginning of the build-up towards the ICC Champions Trophy in February 2025 and we also have an eye towards the 2027 one-day Cricket World Cup. Building depth is of critical importance due to the demands of the international schedule and the need to peak for pinnacle events. For that reason it’s particularly exciting to include a number of players that we believe represent the future of the Blackcaps,” he stated.

New Zealand ODI and T20I squad for Sri Lanka tour: Mitchell Santner (C), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Zak Foulkes, Dean Foxcroft, Mitch Hay (wk), Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Tim Robinson, Nathan Smith, Ish Sodhi, Will Young.

ICYMI | The 15-strong squad led by Mitchell Santner set for two T20Is and three ODIs against Sri Lanka, starting in Dambulla on November 9. Story | #SLvNZ pic.twitter.com/zAcPqsCnEw

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) October 22, 2024

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