On Wednesday, New Zealand Cricket management announced the squad for the upcoming T20I series against Pakistan. With this, the captain of the New Zealand cricket team Kane Williamson is once again making his comeback after an injury.
The star batsman Williamson was absent from the ODI and T20 series against Bangladesh last month as he underwent rehabilitation for a knee injury sustained nine months ago.
The 33-year-old successfully recuperated in time to participate in the 50-over World Cup and a two-Test series in Bangladesh. However, as a precautionary measure, he was rested from white-ball commitments last month.
Williamson will be rested in the third game of the upcoming five-match series against Pakistan, scheduled to commence on January 12.
In Williamson’s absence during the third game of the upcoming series against Pakistan in Dunedin, all-rounder Mitchell Santner will take on the role of leading the Black Caps.
Devon Conway is set to make a comeback after missing both white-ball series against Bangladesh. Additionally, pace bowlers Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson will be making their first international appearances since sustaining injuries during the World Cup.
While talking about the team selection, coach Gary Stead said, “Rachin’s a young player who has immense value to New Zealand Cricket and we therefore want to look after his wellbeing. 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.”
Kane Williamson (C), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson*, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, and Tim Southee.
