New Zealand have announced their 14-member squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against India in which they have recalled right-arm pacer Hamish Bennett.
With regular pacemen Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson still recovering from injury, Bennett is in line to make his first appearance for the national side since 2017.
Selector Gavin Larsen said the call-up was just reward for the 32-year-old’s form and perseverance.
“We’re delighted to have Hamish back in the fold for what will be a huge series against India,” Larsen said.
“We all know he brings good pace and bounce but it’s the clever variations he’s added that make him such a well-rounded T20 bowler,” he added.
Captain Kane Williamson returns to the New Zealand T20I squad after missing the England series in November with a hip injury, while Tom Bruce has been recalled for the final two games of the series in a swap-out with Colin de Grandhomme.
Jimmy Neesham, who recently injured his quad muscle playing domestic cricket, has been included in New Zealand A’s squad for their three one-dayers against India A next week, but not in the T20I squad.
“The next few weeks will be really intense for our elite male cricketers and we’re fully aware of the challenges ahead. We clearly want to win the series in front of us while also considering our wider ICC T20 World Cup campaign plan,” said Larsen.
India have also announced their 16-man squad for the series which gets underway at Eden Park on January 24.Here are the squads of both the teams
New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Hamish Bennett, Tom Bruce (matches 4-5), Colin de Grandhomme (matches 1-3), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee
India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), K L Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul ThakurIndia tour of New Zealand 2020 full schedule:
T20 International Series
Date and Day
Match
venue
Time (IST)
Jan 24, Friday
1st T20
Eden Park, Auckland
12:30 PM
Jan 26, Sunday
2nd T20
Eden Park, Auckland
12:30 PM
Jan 29, Wednesday
3rd T20
Seddon Park, Hamilton
12:30 PM
Jan 31, Friday
4th T20
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
12:30 PM
Feb 02, Sunday
5th T20
Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
12:30 PM
One Day International Series
Date and Day
Match
venue
Time (IST)
Feb 05, Wednesday
1st ODI
Seddon Park, Hamilton
7:30 AM
Feb 08, Saturday
2nd ODI
Eden Park, Auckland
7:30 AM
Feb 11, Tuesday
3rd ODI
Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
7:30 AM
Test Series
Date and Day
Match
venue
Time (IST)
Feb 21, Fri – Feb 25, Tue
1st Test
Basin Reserve, Wellington
4:00 AM
Feb 29, Sat – Mar 04, Wed
2nd Test
Hagley Oval, Christchurch
4:00 AM
Source: Business Standard
