Kiwi star batter and former captain Kane Williamson is to miss the three-match Test series against India. The tour of India, which starts on 16 October, is going to witness first, to be played at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru followed by Pune (24-28 Oct) and Mumbai (1-5 Nov).
New Zealand Cricket Board has announced that due to a groin strain, 34-year-old Williamson, the country’s all-time leading Test run scorer, will hold off his exit for the series, it shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, October 9.
Squad News | Kane Williamson will delay his departure for the Test series against India due to a groin strain, with uncapped Auckland Aces batter Mark Chapman joining the squad as cover 🏏 #INDvNZ #CricketNationhttps://t.co/3wJgTKkRIl
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) October 8, 2024
Williamson suffered a slight groin strain during New Zealand’s fixture against Sri Lanka in the second Test in Galle last month, and will need to be rehabilitated before returning to the Test side against India.
The New Zealand side is set to depart for India on Friday, 11 October, with Williamson anticipated to join in later. According to New Zealand selector Sam Wells, there are still intentions for Williamson to play his part in the series.
The advice we have received is to let Kane take the chance to rest and rehabilitate now, instead of possibly aggravating an injury,” Wells said. “We hope that if everything goes according to plan, Kane will be fit for the latter part of the tour.”.
While it’s pretty disappointing not to have Kane available for the first series of the tour, it does give an opportunity for someone else to play a significant role in a significant series,” he said.
Mark Chapman is an excellent regular for New Zealand in the white-ball formats. He has been included as a cover for Williamson. For New Zealand, he has played besides having played for Hong Kong. His first-class batting average stands at 41.9. His last important inning before this one was 114 runs while playing for New Zealand A against India A at Bert Sutcliffe Oval in 2020.
According to Wells, this 30-year-old left-handed batter has all the abilities that are required for Test cricket in the subcontinent.
We believe Mark is one of our better spinners and has shown himself in the subcontinent,” Wells said. “Mark has demonstrated an ability to play spin positively within the international arena, and, including his top-class first-class record, we believe he is well capable of doing well in conditions such as those we’re expected to find in India.
Squad: Tom Latham (C), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell (1st Test only), Mark Chapman (cover), Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi (2nd & 3rd Test only), Tim Southee, Kane Williamson.
