New Zealand Test Squad for India: Boult, De Grandhomme unavailable; Uncapped Ravindra called up

According
to
New
Zealand
Cricket
(NZC),
Boult
and
De
Grandhomme
made
themselves
unavailable
for
selection
due
to
the
prospect
of
further
time
in
bio-secure
bubbles
and
Managed
Isolation.

On
the
duo
missing
out
on
the
tour,
New
Zealand
coach
Gary
Stead
said
player
welfare
remained
paramount
as
the
duo
have
spent
a
fair
time
in
isolation.

“Trent
has
already
spent
the
best
part
of
60
days
in
hard
managed
isolation
this
year,
while
Colin
had
been
on
the
road
since
May
until
recently
returning
home
from
Pakistan,”
said
Stead.

“From
talking
to
both
players
it
was
clear
the
best
option
for
them
was
to
be
left
out
of
this
Test
tour
and
for
them
to
instead
focus
on
being
ready
for
the
New
Zealand
home
summer,”
he
added.

While
Kane
Williamson
leads
the
team,
experienced
spin
trio
of
Ajaz
Patel,
Will
Somerville
and
Mitchell
Santner
will
be
supported
by
rising
stars
Ravindra
and
Glenn
Phillips.

The
five
spin
options
have
been
included
as
part
of
the
squad
for
the
two-Test
series,
to
be
played
in
Kanpur
from
November
25-29,
and
Mumbai
from
December
3-7.

The
India
tour
also
marks
the
first
time
Phillips
has
been
selected
in
the
Test
squad
since
debuting
against
Australia
as
a
late
replacement
in
2020
when
the
New
Zealand
camp
was
struck
by
illness
on
the
eve
of
the
New
Year’s
Test
in
Sydney.

Patel
and
Somerville
are
set
to
lead
the
spin
attack
and
have
a
particularly
impressive
record
when
playing
together,
combining
for
28
wickets
in
their
three
Tests
as
teammates.

The
India
Test
series
will
be
the
first
without
wicketkeeping
stalwart
BJ
Watling
since
his
retirement
following
the
WTC
final
win
in
England,
with
Tom
Blundell
set
to
take
over
the
Test
gloves.

Stead
said
they’d
very
much
taken
a
horses-for-courses
approach
when
picking
the
tour
squad.

“Touring
India
is
one
of
the
greatest
experiences
in
cricket
and
I
know
our
guys
are
really
looking
forward
to
the
challenge,”
Stead
said.

“It’s
fair
to
say
we’re
expecting
spin-friendly
conditions
and
it’s
great
to
have
a
range
of
options
in
this
department.

“The
success
of
our
spinners
on
recent
tours
to
the
sub-continent
has
been
encouraging
and
we
hope
they
can
once
again
feature
prominently.

“It’s
really
exciting
to
begin
the
second
instalment
of
the
WTC
and
we
know
there’ll
be
an
extra
incentive
for
all
the
teams
we
play
following
our
win
in
the
inaugural
competition,”
he
added.

The
New
Zealand-based
Test
players
depart
for
India
on
Monday
(November
8).

The
Kiwis
will
first
face
India
in
three
T20
Internationals
on
November
17,
19
and
21
–
with
the
current
T20
World
Cup
squad
carrying
on
for
that
series.

New
Zealand
Test
squad:
Kane
Williamson
(captain),
Tom
Blundell
(wicketkeeper),
Devon
Conway,
Kyle
Jamieson,
Tom
Latham,
Henry
Nicholls,
Ajaz
Patel,
Glenn
Phillips,
Rachin
Ravindra,
Mitchell
Santner,
Will
Somerville,
Tim
Southee,
Ross
Taylor,
Will
Young,
Neil
Wagner

(With
Agency
inputs)