Blow for NZ! Mitchell Santner suffers Grade 3 injury, out of Ireland, England Tests

New Zealand cricket team sustained a major blow as their white-ball skipper, Mitchell Santner, is sidelined for at least one month because of a shoulder injury. Through an official confirmation, the New Zealand cricket board has informed that the spin-bowling all-rounder has a level 3 ACL shoulder injury.

The board confirmed the injury status after a medical scan. As he is expected to remain out of action for at least one month, he will be unavailable for the one-off Test against Ireland and the first Test against England.

Mitchell Santner is all set to miss multiple international matches because of the injury.

“BLACKCAPS all-rounder and white-ball captain Mitchell Santner is set to be sidelined for at least a month after scans revealed a grade three ACL shoulder injury. The diagnosis means Santner is unavailable for the one-off Test against Ireland and the first Test against England, with his availability for the second and third Tests to be evaluated at a later date,” the New Zealand cricket board informed.

“The full squad for the Ireland and England Tests is set to be named in the coming days,” it added.

An update from the team. Read more at https://t.co/3YsfR1Y3Sm.

📸 @PhotosportNZ pic.twitter.com/R1WL5XEjUY

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) May 1, 2026

Mitchell Santner has been ruled out of the remainder of IPL 2026 due to a left shoulder injury sustained while fielding for the Mumbai Indians against the Chennai Super Kings. The New Zealand all-rounder suffered the injury while attempting a diving catch.

A major setback for New Zealand ahead of a packed schedule

The Kiwis are all set to face Ireland for a one-off four-day Test against the Ireland cricket team on May 27, at Stormont in Belfast, followed by a 3-match Test series against the England cricket team in an away tour.

During the away Test series, the absence of the experienced spin bowling all-rounder, Mitchell Santner, could be a major loss for the team. Santner is known to bring a composer on the field, and with all of the experiences from the international matches over the years, they know how to deal with tricky situations. Though it will be interesting to see whether we can recover ahead of the 2nd and 3rd Test match against England.

NZ’s upcoming fixtures against Ireland and England:

• One-off four-day Test vs Ireland — Stormont, Belfast — May 27
• 1st Test vs England — Lord’s — June 4–8
• 2nd Test vs England — The Oval — June 17–21
• 3rd Test vs England — Trent Bridge — June 25–29

In the official press release, the cricket board further informed that the Blackcaps’ next white-ball assignment is an ODI and T20I tour to the West Indies in July. They will open the home international summer in October with a bumper three-format tour against India, which runs through until December 1.

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