Tom Latham will lead New Zealand for the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh which begins on New Year’s Day. Injury to Kane Williamson meant that he will be unavailable for a busy summer which will also see Australia coming across. Meanwhile the selectors have picked a pace heavy side with the likes of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Neil Wagner, Kyle Jamieson all included. Interestingly, Ajaz Patel was rested despite his historic feat against India in Mumbai where he became only the third cricketer to take ten wickets in a match. Although, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell cover the spin and seam all-rounder spots, respectively.
BLACKCAPS coach Gary Stead is confident he has all bases covered for both Bay Oval and Hagley Oval.
“It’s great to be back home and at venues we know well, and where we’ve had success in recent times” said Stead.
“It’s obviously disappointing not to have Kane available for this series but, as we noted in India, he is undergoing a sustained period of rest followed by rehabilitation, strengthening and gradual batting loading.
“We have every confidence in Tom leading the side – he’s done an excellent job in the past when called upon.
“You do feel for Ajaz after his record-breaking display in India. However, we’ve always applied a horses-for-courses selection policy and believe the players selected best fit the way we want to take on Bangladesh here at home.”
New Zealand fought really hard, but couldn’t save a series defeat in India despite drawing the first Test in Kanpur. 2021 was probably the greatest ever for Kiwi cricket who have won the WTC this season, pushing them at the forefront. A complete contrast to yester years where they were known for being the nice runners up.
Squad: Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, Will Young
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