IND vs NZ: Trent Boult, Martin Guptill Dropped As New Zealand Announce Squads For Limited-overs Series vs India

Star New Zealand National Cricket Team left-arm pacer Trent Boult and opening batsman Martin Guptill have been dropped from the team for the upcoming limited-overs series against India National Cricket Team at home.

The Black Caps will lock horns with the Men In Blue in a three-match T20I series and a three-match ODI series in the forthcoming India tour of New Zealand 2022. The T20Is will be played on November 18, 20, and 22. The ODIs will be played on November 25, 27, and 30.

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The decision not to include world-class pacer Trent Boult in the squads for the series against India has been made because the pacer had opted out of his NZC contract in August this year.

Senior opener Martin Guptill, on the other hand, has been left out of the squads due to the rise of youngster Finn Allen. Guptill was part of New Zealand’s ICC T20 World Cup 2022 squad, but he didn’t get the opportunity to play as his spot at the top order was taken up by Allen.

Meanwhile, pacer Adam Milne has been picked in both ODI and T20I squads for the India series and he is likely to play his first ODI in over five years.

Kyle Jamieson and Ben Sears were not considered for selection due to back injuries while Henry Nicholls will replace James Neesham in the team for the third ODI in order to give time to the star all-rounder to prepare for his wedding.

We indicated that priority would be given to those players with either central or domestic contracts – Gary Stead

New Zealand National Cricket Team head coach Gary Stead, while talking about the absence of Boult from the squads, said that they had already indicated that the players with the NZC contracts would be given preference during selection.

“When Trent opted out of his NZC contract in August, we indicated that priority would be given to those players with either central or domestic contracts, and that’s been the case here,” he said as quoted by NZC.

“We’re all aware of Trent’s world-class ability, but at this time – as we build towards more global events, we want to give opportunities and experiences to others.”

He further talked about the non-selection of senior opener Guptill and said that the “emergence and success” of Allen has led to the exit of Guptill from the team. Stead, however, asserted that Boult and Guptill can still make a comeback to the set-up.

“The emergence and success of Finn at the top of the order in white-ball cricket means a guy of the class of Martin Guptill misses out – that’s just the nature of high performance sport. With the 50-over World Cup less than a year away we’re keen to give Finn every opportunity to keep gaining ODI experience, especially against quality opposition such as India. The message to both those players is that there’s a lot of international cricket ahead and the door is certainly not closed to them.”

“There’s always an incredible buzz when India come to town. The energy and noise is incredible and I know the team are really looking forward to getting back and playing in front of some big home crowds. India are a world-class side stacked with IPL stars and we know we’ll have to be right at the top of our game,” he further said.

New Zealand Squads For India Series:

T20I squad: Kane Williamson (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway (WK), Lockie Ferguson, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner

ODI squad: Kane Williamson (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Tom Latham (WK), Matt Henry

Also Read: IND vs NZ: Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin Could Say Goodbye To T20Is; You May See Virat Kohli In the 2024 T20 WC – Monty Panesar