NZ vs WI | Daryl Mitchell replaces injured Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner to lead the side in final T20I
Santner has been named the skipper
|BCCI
Colin de Grandhomme has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against West Indies as he has a bone bruising in his right foot and will be replaced by all-rounder Daryl Mitchell. Mitchell Santner will be leading the New Zealand team in the final T20I as Tim Southee has been rested.
All-rounder Daryl Mitchell gets picked for the upcoming Test series against the West Indies as Colin de Grandhomme has been ruled out of the entire series with a bone bruising in his right foot. Mitchell Santner also finds himself included in the Test side as the cover for spinner Ajaz Patel, who had torn his left calf earlier and has failed to recover in time.
Santner has also been named as the captain of New Zealand for the third T20I on Monday, taking over from Tim Southee, who has been rested for the game. With this Santner will become the eighth captain of New Zealand in T20I cricket. Head Coach Gary Stead informed that the unavailability of de Grandhomme and Ajaz will pose a hectic challenge in the tight schedule.
"It's disappointing for Colin to be ruled out of the Tests completely and he'll now target being fit and available for the Boxing Day Test at Bay Oval. Ajaz will join the team in Hamilton to have treatment and train. We will make a call on the second Test in Wellington closer to the time,” Stead said.
"The unavailability of Colin and Ajaz has obviously had a flow on effect to our T20 squad who are providing the replacement players for the Test squad. I highlighted last week how tight and complex the schedule was - so when you throw in some injuries, it really begins to challenge how you juggle your resources.”
Confirming the availability of Santner and Daryl, Stead added that both the players will be monitored to ensure that they are fresh for the Test series.
"Mitch and Daryl will be available for the final T20 game, before linking up with the Test squad on Tuesday where we will monitor them closely to ensure they're fit and fresh ahead of the first Test on Thursday. They both proved last summer in the Tests against England what they can do in our conditions with Mitch scoring a century and claiming three wickets at Bay Oval, while Daryl produced a polished half-century on debut at Seddon Park,” he said.
"I'd like to acknowledge Mitch Santner for taking on the responsibility to captain the T20 side. It's a great honour to lead your country and I know his calm demeanour along with the sheer amount of international experience he's amassed in the past five years will hold him in good stead.”
