melbourne, Jan 3
Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson have made successful recoveries from their respective injuries, while Kane Williamson and Devon Conway also return after periods of rest as New Zealand named a full-strength squad for the five-match T20I series against Pakistan at home. Allrounder Rachin Ravindra was rested after being on the road since August last year.
Henry was out for two months after he injured his right hamstring during the World Cup clash against South Africa in Pune. He will return to competitive action for Canterbury in a Super Smash T20 fixture against Central Districts on January 5 before joining the New Zealand squad of 13 in Auckland next week.
While Henry has been picked for all five T20Is, Ferguson, who suffered an Achilles injury during the World Cup has been included for the last three T20Is. Ferguson will take the field for Auckland for three Super Smash games over the next two weeks before joining the New Zealand squad. Fast bowler Ben Sears has been included for the first two T20Is.
Williamson, who was rested for the Bangladesh ODIs and T20Is, will miss the third T20I against Pakistan as he continues to monitor his knee injury. He will otherwise take back the captaincy reins for the rest of the four games. Uncapped Central Districts batter Josh Clarkson has been called up as cover for the third T20I with Mitchell Santner set to stand in as captain.
“It’s great to be welcoming back Matt, Devon, Lockie and Kane,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said. “They’re four quality players in their own right and their skills and experience will bolster our side. With just three T20I series left before the T20 World Cup, all matches are vitally important for our preparation.”
Stead explained why Ravindra was being rested, having played in five countries in the last five months. Ravindra was the fourth-highest run-scorer at the World Cup and was later picked up by CSK at the IPL auction for INR 1.8 crore (US$ 216,000 approx.).
“Rachin’s a young player who has immense value to New Zealand Cricket and we therefore want to look after his wellbeing,” Stead said. “He’s the only player or staff member to have been touring non-stop for the past five months across five countries and that’s simply not sustainable. He’s still very much part of our thinking for the T20 World Cup in June and will come back into the reckoning for the T20 series against Australia in February.”
The rest of the squad is on similar lines to the one that drew the T20I series against Bangladesh last week. Kyle Jamieson and Michael Bracewell were not considered as they continued to recover from their injuries while Trent Boult and James Neesham were unavailable due to overseas T20 commitments.
The first of the five T20Is will be played in Auckland on January 12 followed by games on January 14, 17, 19 and 21.
NZ squad for Pakistan T20Is
Kane Williamson (capt) (except game 3), Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Devon Conway (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson (game 3 only), Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ben Sears (games 1 & 2), Lockie Ferguson (games 3, 4 & 5)
