Rachin Ravindra has been ruled out of New Zealand‘s T20I series against India due to the shoulder injury he sustained during a promotional shoot last week.
Ravindra is expected to need around six weeks to recover with the aim for him to be available for the ODIs which begin on November 4. The T20I series starts on October 22 in Christchurch.
“We’re gutted for Rachin,” New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said. “He’s going to play a big role for us this summer so it’s important that he doesn’t rush his rehab, but we’re optimistic he’ll be back for the ODIs.”
Bevon Jacobs, who has played 11 T20Is and made an unbeaten 62 in his last outing against Bangladesh, has been included as a middle-order option.
Fast bowler Adam Milne is in line to play his first T20Is in more than a year. Milne is part of a strong group of pace bowlers for the five-match T20I series alongside Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes and Nathan Smith. Ben Sears was not considered as he recovers from an ankle injury.
Walter said that the large pool of fast bowlers would help manage workloads at the start of a busy season which sees New Zealand tour Australia for four Tests after the visit of India before returning home to play Sri Lanka early next year.
“Our priority is winning games and putting the best team on the park, but we also have to keep in mind the volume of cricket in the coming months,” Walter said. “We’re very fortunate with the depth that we’ve got to call upon, so we’ll look to use all 16 squad members throughout the series as we manage workloads.”
Finn Allen and Tim Seifert, who both hold casual contracts with NZC and will play the BBL later in the year, will be reunited at the top of the order for the first time since the T20 World Cup. It means there is no place in the squad for Tim Robinson.
“It’s going to be awesome to welcome India to our shores and get summer underway,” Walter said. “India is a quality team and a challenging opposition, so to take them on in our own conditions in front of Kiwi fans is really exciting. We hear most of the games are going to be sold-out and it should make for some incredible occasions.
“We’ve got a near full-strength squad that covers all bases and I’m excited to see how we compete against the current T20 world champions.”
The five T20Is against India are followed by five ODIs and two Tests.
New Zealand squad for T20Is vs India
Mitchell Santner (capt), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Nathan Smith