New Zealand is set to lock horns with India in 5 ODIs at home. The selectors have announced the ODI squad for the first 3 ODIs. Mitchell Santner, Colin de Grandhomme and Tom Latham are back in the 14-man squad.
Santner had last played an ODI back in March 2018. The all-rounder was in the T20I squad and now gets recalled to the 50-over format. De Grandhomme comes back in place of James Neesham who suffered a grade-one hamstring strain during the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Nelson.
The wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham had missed the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Tim Seifert had scored just 33 runs in 2 innings and has to sacrifice his place to Latham. The head coach Gary Stead mentioned that they are looking to build a squad for the World Cup.
“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 ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales.
“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,” said Stead as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“We were impressed by Jimmy against Sri Lanka, and are keen to see more of Todd – who has a different skillset and performed well for us last year. It’s just important that, after their respective injuries, we can see them playing again and be confident of bringing them back at this level,” added Stead.
New Zealand’s squad for the first 3 ODIs against India
Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor
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