Wellington, March 14 (Hindustan Times). Tom Latham has been named the captain of New Zealand for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka. Latham will lead the team in the absence of Kane Williamson. Williamson will skip the series to participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Along with Williamson, Tim Southee and Devon Conway have also been left out as New Zealand Cricket has decided to release them after the Test series keeping the IPL in mind. New Zealand Cricket also confirmed that all-rounder Mitchell Santner has not been selected for the series at the request of his IPL franchise.
With Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips and Lockie Ferguson leaving for India for the IPL after the first ODI, the New Zealand team will be greatly weakened in the second and third ODIs. In place of these three, Mark Chapman, Henry Nicholls and uncapped Ben Lister will be included in the team for the second and third matches.
Apart from Lister, Chad Bowes is the other uncapped player to have received his maiden ODI call-up after an impressive season in white-ball cricket with Canterbury. New Zealand have also recalled Will Young and Tom Blundell to the squad. Young’s last ODI came in July last year while it has been three years since Blundell played ODI cricket for New Zealand.
Coach Gary Stead said: “Chad has been impressive over a number of seasons, being an outstanding fielder at the top of Canterbury’s order. We are now set to play 16 white-ball matches between the start of May, so there will be plenty of opportunities for players to test themselves in familiar and unfamiliar conditions.”
He said, “Tom Blundell has been extremely successful over the last 18 months in international cricket, in the Test team and then domestically with the Wellington Firebirds. This is an exciting opportunity for Tom.”
The ODI series will begin on March 25 in Auckland after the conclusion of the second Test. The second and third ODIs will be played in Christchurch and Hamilton on March 28 and 31 respectively.
New Zealand’s ODI squad: Tom Latham (captain), Finn Allen (1st ODI only), Tom Blundell, Chad Bowes, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman (2nd and 3rd ODIs only), Lockie Ferguson (1st ODI only), Matt Henry, Ben Lister (2nd and 3rd ODIs only), Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls (2nd and 3rd ODIs only), Glenn Phillips (1st ODIs only), Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Will Young.
Source: dainikbhaskarup.com
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