Jimmy Neesham makes his comeback to the kiwis Test squad ahead of their three-match Test tour of India. The 25-year old all-rounder returns to the Black Caps fold ever since being sidelined during last year’s series with Australia due to a long-term back injury.
NZC (New Zealand Cricket) selector Gavin Larsen commented that Neesham had shown healthy progress over the last few months and is now fully ready to feature on the Test scene. Larsen also emphasized the importance of having two pace all-rounders, now that Jimmy joins Doug Bracewell to add to the balance of the squad.
The 15-man squad features 3 ins and outs from the side that recently lost the two-match away series to South Africa. Speedster Matt Henry somes as a surprise omission. Uncapped legspinner Jeet Raval will have to wait a bit longer for his debut, he sees his name excluded as well.
“Jeet Raval misses out on this tour, but we were really pleased with what we saw of him in Africa. He did everything asked of him and we’ll continue to monitor him closely,”
Keeping the Indian conditions in mind, the kiwis squad features three specialist spinners in Ish Sodhi, Mark Craig and Mitchell Santner. On the other hand, Trent Boult and Tim Southee will lead the pace attack, which will be further backed by Neil Wagner and the two seaming all-rounders, Jimmy and Doug.
New Zealand currently sit 7th in the ICC Test rankings for teams, having just lost an away series to the Proteas. On the other hand, India sit 2nd, just one place below arch-rivals Pakistan. The blues head into the NZ series on the back of a 2-0 series win in the Caribbean.
New Zealand squad for India Tour: Kane Williamson (capt), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling.
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