New Zealand name Test and T20I sqauds for India tour

Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme are the major omissions as New Zealand named their squads for the T20I and Test series in India. Even as Boult will only miss the Test series, the 35-year-old Grandhomme won’t be a part of both the red-ball and white-ball series.

The duo made themselves unavailable because of the prospect of spending more time amidst the hassles of the bio-secure bubbles in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gary Stead, the head coach of the Black Caps, respected Boult and De Grandhomme’s decision and said that welfare of the players is of prime importance.

Stead said that the two players are more focussed on keeping themselves fit for the home games. “Trent has already spent the best part of 60 days in hard managed isolation this year, while Colin had been on the road since May until recently returning home from Pakistan,” Stead was quoted as saying.

“From talking to both players, it was clear the best option for them was to be left out of this Test tour and for them to instead focus on being ready for the New Zealand home summer,” he added.

The squad for the team's Test Series against @BCCI starting later this month is here. Details | https://t.co/R4PIYBbIqt #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/lo4vGbNaMm

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) November 4, 2021

The Kiwis picked five spinners- Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, William Somerville, Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel- for the tour. The Test series will also mark the first instance of New Zealand playing in the format without BJ Watling, who retired back in June.

Ross Taylor, who didn’t play the T20 World Cup, wasn’t included in the T20I squad, but he would be playing the Tests on Indian soil.

New Zealand T20I squad

Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Adam Milne

New Zealand Test squad

Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Will Somerville, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Will Young, Neil Wagner

The Kiwis’ tour gets underway with the three-match T20I series, starting Wednesday, November 17. Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata will host the games. Kanpur and Mumbai are the hosts for the two-match Test series, which is scheduled to begin on November 25.