NZ vs BAN : New Zealand announce squad for ODIs, Tom Latham to lead

New Zealand, on Thursday (March 11), announced their ODI squad for the upcoming series against Bangladesh. The Black Caps have handed maiden ODI call-ups to Devon Conway, Will Young and Daryl Mitchell for the three-match series. With Kane Williamson got sidelined due to an elbow injury, Tom Latham will be leading the side.

Along with Williamson, Lockie Ferguson and Colin de Grandhomme also failed to make it to the squad due to back and ankle injury respectively. Conway, who has played 11 T20Is so far, earned his maiden call-up after impressing against Australia in the recently-concluded T20I series. Before that, he had scored four fifties on the trot including two 90-plus scores in domestic T20s.

Young has been waiting for his ODI call-up for quite some time now. Having made his Test debut last year, the 28-year old had scored two one-day centuries against the Australians during warm-up matches in Brisbane before the 2019 World Cup. After those impressive knocks, he had to undergo a shoulder surgery. Mitchell, on the other hand, has played 4 Tests and 12 T20Is so far.

“Devon, Will and Daryl are quality players and have enjoyed impressive seasons so far, and we’re looking forward to giving them further opportunities to develop their game at this level,” selector Gavin Larsen said on Wednesday (March 10) as quoted by Cricbuzz. “Whilst it’s disappointing to lose a player of Kane’s class, Tom has proven experience in taking the reins and I know he’s excited to lead the side.”

New Zealand has turned attention to building towards the 2023 World Cup

Larsen further said New Zealand are focusing on building the squad for the 2023 World Cup in India. The New Zealand selector pointed out the lack of ODIs played by the team since making it to the 2019 World Cup. The Kiwis have not played ODIs for a year with their last match being the Sydney ODI against Australia in March 2020.

“It’s certainly been a while since we’ve played ODI cricket, with just four games since the 2019 Cricket World Cup campaign. We’re now in a new World Cup cycle and our attention has turned to building towards the 2023 tournament in India. This series is a great opportunity to begin laying those foundations and formulating the type of team and game-plan we think can continue our impressive run in this format,” said Larsen.

New Zealand ODI squad:

Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham (c) (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Will Young

TEAM NEWS – Maiden ODI squad call-ups for Devon Conway, Will Young and @dazmitchell47 for the three-game Alesha Mart ODI Series against @BCBtigers, starting in @Lovedunedin next week. More | https://t.co/nefget6Djx #NZvBAN pic.twitter.com/l6UKyuw8re

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 10, 2021