Mitchell Santner Ruled Out As New Zealand Announce Squad For Australia T20Is | Cricket News

Mitchell Santner is nursing an injury (Picture Credit: AFP)

New Zealand have announced a 14-member squad for the three-match T20I series against Australia in the first week of October. Skipper Mitchell Santner has been ruled out of it due to an abdominal issue, for which he recently underwent surgery, and is now targeting a return in England’s white-ball tour later in the month.

Michael Bracewell will lead the Blackcaps in Santner’s absence. He has previously led on 10 occasions, registering six wins, three losses, and a no-result. His experience includes a 4-1 victory over Pakistan in March.

“The Chappell-Hadlee Series is a great way to start the summer,” Bracwell said in a statement. “I grew up watching those series and the rivalry is massive between New Zealand and Australia. Since 2016 it [the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy] hasn’t been with us, and that’s something we want to change. Having the opportunity to fight for that on home soil is pretty special,” he added.

Pacers Kyle Jamieson and Ben Sears have marked a return to the squad. Jamieson missed the recent series in Zimbabwe to welcome the birth of his first child, while Sears missed that tour with a side injury.

New Zealand coach Rob Walter is delighted to see the latter back fit.

“He’s worked incredibly hard over the last 12 weeks to be back on the park and done some awesome work there,” he said. “So we’re excited to see him back in the competitive fold. We’re building a bigger base of fast bowlers, because we understand that the program is so busy these days, but fast bowling is a key requisite for performance. So we want to make sure we’ve got as many options as we possibly can have.”

Australia will also be missing three first-choice players in Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, and Cameron Green but are in excellent form and will present a formidable challenge to the Trans-Tasman rivals.

New Zealand’s full T20I squad vs Australia

Michael Bracewell (captain), Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi