New Zealand Cricket Board has announced an initial squad of nine members for the tour of India. The rest of the squad will be picked from the New Zealand A team that is currently playing in India, the board has confirmed.
The Black Caps are due to tour India in late October and will be playing three ODIs and three T20Is as a part of the tour. Currently, the New Zealand A squad is playing against India A, as they look to get acclimatised to the conditions in the subcontinent.
A squad of 9 has been named for the tour of India, with more players to be added from the current NZ A tour. ?| https://t.co/zvytoDG9tY pic.twitter.com/Dk5uIXWTPH
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) September 24, 2017
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has confirmed the rest of the squad will get filled by the current players who are playing for New Zealand A in India.
“The nine we’ve picked have made up the core of our ODI team for a while, and all of them have experience playing in India,” said Hesson.
“With a number of our top guys already playing in India, it’s helpful to be able to select the squad in two parts. With six spots left, there’s an obvious incentive for the players in New Zealand A to perform and put their best foot forward.”
Notable absentees from the squad include Jimmy Neesham and Neil Broom, whom the coach believes need to work on certain details if they want to get back to the national team once again.
“It will be disappointing for James and Neil, but we’ve talked through the areas that we’d like to see them work on and if we see development they’ll certainly both come into the reckoning come the home summer,” Hesson added.
New Zealand’s Initial Squad: Kane Williamson (C), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Adam Milne, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor