For their home white-ball series against India, New Zealand has left out two of their most seasoned players, opener Martin Guptill and left-arm quick Trent Boult. Kane Williamson will continue to captain the team in the three T20Is and three ODIs, which start at Wellington on November 18.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has begun transitioning into a new era following New Zealand's semifinal loss at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia and their runners-up finish at the previous iteration of the tournament in the UAE last year. The duo have been left out, and rising star Finn Allen is now ready to face Rohit Sharma's side for the first time after being included in both the white-ball squads for the match.
Recently, the Kiwis have chosen to bat 23-year-old Allen over Guptill at the top of the order. Boult, however, will also be watching from the sidelines after he decided earlier this year to abandon his contract with New Zealand Cricket in order to focus on chances in domestic leagues across the world and spend more time with his family.
Tim Southee, Matt Henry (just for ODIs), Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner, and Adam Milne will stand in for Boult in the speed bowling department. Following his return to the T20 International sphere during the most recent Tri-series and the 2017 ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE, Milne is set to play his maiden ODI since 2017.
It was never simple, according to New Zealand coach Gary Stead, to leave out the wisdom of Boult and Guptill, but the team had to keep looking forward.
Stead was cited by NZC on Tuesday as saying, "When Trent opted out of his NZC contract in August, we stated that precedence would be given to those players with either central or domestic contracts, and that's been the case here."
"We are all aware of Trent's extraordinary talent, but at this time, as we prepare for larger global events, we want to provide others with opportunity and life-changing experiences. A player of Martin Guptill's calibre will be left out because to the rise and success of Finn at the top of the order in white-ball cricket; that is just the way it is in high performance sports.
"We want to give Finn every chance to maintain getting ODI experience, especially against top competition like India, with the 50-over World Cup less than a year away. Both of those guys should know that there is still enough of international cricket left for them to play."
The tour kicks off on November 18 with a three-game T20 International series across Wellington, Tauranga, and Napier before moving into the ODI series across Auckland, Hamilton, and Christchurch on November 25.
Tim Southee, who is currently on 199 ODI wickets, has a chance to become the fifth New Zealander to reach 200 ODI wickets during the one-day series. For the ODI team, Tom Latham will take over as the wicketkeeper, while Devon Conway will remain behind the posts for the T20 team.
Due to back injury, Kyle Jamieson and Ben Sears, both, were passed over for selection.
Starting on November 18, cricket fans in India can watch the India tour of New Zealand series on Prime Video.
The squad: Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry (ODI), Tom Latham (ODI) (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi (T20), Tim Southee, Blair Tickner (T20).
(Jimmy Neesham has been excused from the squad for the third ODI as he prepares for his wedding, with Henry Nicholls the replacement for the final match in Christchurch).