New Zealand opening batsman, Martin Guptill, has been left out of the squad for the two-Test series against Pakistan, starting on November 17. A left-handed batsman, Jeet Raval, who was in the Test squad for Zimbabwe series, has been called back after being dropped for India series. Guptill had a rough Indian tour as he could just manage to score 159 runs in six Test innings, a nelson number of 111 was what he could score in five ODIs.
“Jeet has been in the picture for a while now and he benefitted from spending time in the environment during the tour of Africa, his form in recent seasons has been excellent and the opportunity for Jeet to begin his international career in familiar conditions will be important” New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen said.
Despite being one of the underperformers in the series, Guptill was given an opportunity to play full series but failed to gain form and confidence back.
All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme has received maiden Test call-up while Todd Astle, who played a Test match 4 years ago have also been called back to the squad. Selectors have dropped Ish Sodhi, Doug Bracewell, Luke Ronchi and Jeetan Patel from the squad. They all were part of Test squad that toured India while injured players like Colin Munro, Mark Craig, Mitchell Santner have not being considered for selection due to injury.
“Luke, Martin, Doug miss out this series, but we know that they and the others who miss out will continue to work hard on their game and get the chance to continue staking a claim in the domestic competition” added Larsen.
New Zealand is set to play two-Test series against Pakistan from November 17 at Christchurch, while the second Test will start from November 25 at Hamilton. Prior to the start of Test series, Pakistan team has been given one four-day practice game against BJ Watling-led New Zealand A squad.
New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (capt), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Jimmy Neesham, Jeet Raval, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling