Kyle Jamieson pulls out of New Zealand’s T20Is against India

New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson has opted out of the Black Caps’ upcoming three-match T20I series against India. The 26-year-old wants to stay focussed on the two-match Test series after the white-ball games, head coach Gary Stead said. Jamieson became the second New Zealander after regular skipper Kane Williamson to pull out of the T20Is on Indian soil.

In the absence of Williamson, speedster Tim Southee will be leading the Kiwis in the series, starting November 17 with the opening match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The Black Caps, on Sunday, lost to Australia by eight wickets and ended as the runners-up in the T20 World Cup 2021.

In less than three days, the team is set to return to the field. Stead said that managing the workload of the cricketers in the chock-a-block schedule is of prime importance. The coach also said that the Test matches will be of high priority for the Black Caps.

New Zealand focussing on workload management

“We decided through talking with Kane and Kyle that they won’t play in this T20 series. They’re both going to get ready for the test matches and I think you’ll find there will be other guys involved in the test matches that won’t play the entire series either,” Stead was quoted as saying in a press-conference, organised by NZC.

“It’s a bit of a balancing act at the moment and with three T20 games in five days plus travel to three different cities it’s a very, very busy time,” he stated.

The Test series starts on Thursday, November 25 with the first match to take place at the Green Park in Kanpur. The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will host the second Test from December 3.

“You’ll definitely see that the whole squad will get match time over here and that’s about us managing the workload of the players, especially with the test matches coming up for us, which will be a real key priority for us as we work through the next week,” Stead added.

Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata are the hosts for the three-match T20I series between Southee’s New Zealand and Rohit Sharma’s India. In January 2022, the Kiwis will also play two Tests against Bangladesh at home.