Christchurch: New Zealand’s cricket board announced their squad for the forthcoming tour of India on Thursday, which includes experienced spin trio Ajaz Patel, Will Somerville, and Mitchell Santner.
As the Kiwis begin their ICC World Test Championship defence, the spin trio will be backed up by Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips. The five spinners have been named in a 15-man team for the two Test series, which will be played at Kanpur (November 25-29) and Mumbai (December 3-7), where the slower bowlers are likely to thrive.
With Will Young filling the batting spots, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, and Kyle Jamieson offering pace options, the remaining team has a familiar feel with the regular Test top five.
Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme, on the other hand, withdrew from selection owing to the possibility of more time in bio-secure bubbles and regulated isolation.
“Trent has already spent the best part of 60 days in hard managed isolation this year, while Colin had been on the road since May until recently returning home from Pakistan,” New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said.
“From talking to both players it was clear the best option for them was to be left out of this Test tour and for them to instead focus on being ready for the New Zealand home summer.”
Phillips has been named in the Test squad for the first time since making his Test debut against Australia as a late substitute in 2020, when the New Zealand camp was hit by sickness on the eve of the New Year’s Test in Sydney.
Ravindra, who made his New Zealand debut in a T20 international against Bangladesh in September, is also yet to play in the longer format of the game, despite touring England with the Test squad earlier this year.
Patel and Somerville are poised to head the spin attack, and they have a particularly excellent record when they play together, taking for 28 wickets in their three Tests together: against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2018, and Sri Lanka in Galle and Colombo in 2019.
With Tom Blundell likely to take over the Test gloves, the India Test series will be the first without wicket-keeper veteran BJ Watling since his retirement following the WTC final triumph in England.
Stead said they’d very much taken a horses-for-courses approach when picking the tour squad. “Touring India is one of the greatest experiences in cricket and I know our guys are really looking forward to the challenge,” he said.
“It’s fair to say we’re expecting spin-friendly conditions and it’s great to have a range of options in this department. The success of our spinners on recent tours to the sub-continent has been encouraging and we hope they can once again feature prominently.
“It’s really exciting to begin the second installment of the WTC and we know there’ll be an extra incentive for all the teams we play following our win in the inaugural competition,” Stead added. The New Zealand-based Test players depart for India on Monday, November 8.
New Zealand Test squad for India tour
Kane Williamson (C), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Will Somerville, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Will Young and Neil Wagner.
