New Zealand vs Bangladesh 2021: New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has named a 13-member squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh. The series will begin from New Year’s eve at the Bay Oval i.e., from January 1, 2022.
Regular skipper Kane Williamson will be unavailable for the series owing to his injury and the board has named Tom Latham as the skipper for the Test series. Williamson is also expected to miss most of the summers which will also see Australia touring New Zealand subsequently. The squad sees a major exclusion of spinner Ajaz Patel, who recently registered a 10-wicket haul against India at Wankhede Stadium.
Instead, the selectors have decided to go with a fiery bowling unit comprising the likes of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Neil Wagner, and Kyle Jamieson. Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell also found spots in the 13-member squad for spin bowling and all-rounder outputs.
NZ’s head coach Gary Stead affirmed that he is confident in the team’s selection for the two-match Test series scheduled to be played at 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,” Gary Stead said.
“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,” he added.
“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.” Stead concluded.
The two-match Test series will get underway from January 1-5 at Bay Oval, followed by the second Test from January 9, at Hagley Oval.
New Zealand vs Bangladesh 2021: (New Zealand 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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