New Zealand and Sri Lanka will play a white-ball series with three T20I games, followed by as many ODI matches between December 28 and January 11 at the former’s home grounds. To bolster the side’s power-hitting finesse, uncapped Bevon Jacobs has been called up for the T20I squad. Jacobs was selected by Mumbai Indians in the recent IPL draft after his brilliant outings in Super Smash earlier this year. He scored at an average of 33.5 striking at something north of 185 during the domestic competition.
After catching the eye of Mumbai Indians and doing what he did in the Super Smash, it was only fitting for New Zealand to get Jacobs drafted into the international side. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) coach, Sam Wells, was all praises for the 22-year-old’s temperament while announcing the squad.
“It’s obviously an exciting time for Bevon and his family. He’s a promising player with a lot of talent and we’re looking forward to exposing him to international cricket. He’s clearly got a lot of power with the bat, but he’s also shown in the longer formats that he has a decent technique and temperament,” the NZC selector said.
While Jacobs is the only uncapped player in the squad, Santner will be leading a bunch of youngsters in both formats, thanks to injuries, a plethora of franchise leagues overlapping with the series, and players managing workload. Players including Kane Williamson and Devon Conway along with Lockie Ferguson, Finn Allen, Adam Milne, and Tim Seifert will all miss the national duty to play the SAT20 and BBL. Kyle Jamieson and Ben Sears will sit the series out with their respective injuries.
But it will not entirely be a wet-behind-the-ears team. Mitchell Santner will have the likes of Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, and Glenn Phillips to challenge the visitors. Will O’Rourke, Will Young, and Tom Latham will join the team for the ODI series only, as they will miss the T20I part of the series to manage the workload after playing plenty of cricket, especially red-ball, of late. The trio will replace Jacobs, Tim Robinson, and Zakary Foulkes, all of who are not a part of the ODI series.
The three-match ODI series will also be the last bilateral tour of the Kiwis before the Champions Trophy, though they are slated to contest a tri-nation series with Pakistan and South Africa, which will end a few days before the eight-nation tournament.
Wells said how the players perform in the ODI tour will, obviously, have a big say in deciding who gets to be on the plane to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in February.
“As with the squads that recently toured Sri Lanka, we’re keen to keep exposing new talent to the big stage and it’s nice to have an experienced core of players around them. The Champions Trophy, like all ICC pinnacle events, is an obvious incentive for players and I know many will be keen to put their best foot forward in the ODI series to be in the frame for selection.”
New Zealand T20I squad vs Sri Lanka
Mitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Mitchell Hay, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Nathan Smith
New Zealand ODI squad vs Sri Lanka
Mitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Mitchell Hay, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Will Young
