The Black Caps will be without another star for their Twenty20 series against India starting on Thursday morning, with Kyle Jamieson skipping the three matches to focus on the upcoming Tests.
Jamieson joins captain Kane Williamson in missing the white ball action, although the fast bowler's absence was only confirmed Wednesday afternoon - hours before the first T20 Jaipur.
“We decided through talking with Kane and Kyle that they won’t play in this T20 series,” coach Gary Stead said.
“They’re both going to get ready for the Test matches and I think you’ll find there will be other guys involved in the Test matches that won’t play the entire series either.
“It’s a bit of a balancing act at the moment and with three T20 games in five days plus travel to three different cities, it’s a very, very busy time.”
The Black Caps only lost the T20 World Cup final to Australia on Monday but will begin the T20 series at 2:30am on Thursday (NZ time) before two more games in Ranchi and Kolkata.
The first Test is then in Kanpur, starting next Thursday before the second match takes place the following Friday.
Black Caps tour of India
Squads
Test: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell, Henry Nicholls, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Will Somerville, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, Will Young
T20: Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee
Fixtures
Thursday, November 18, 2.30am NZT: First T20; Jaipur
Saturday, November 20, 2.30am: Second T20; Ranchi
Monday, November 22, 2.30am: Third T20; Kolkata
Thursday, November 25 – Monday, November 29, 5pm: First Test; Kanpur
Friday, December 3 – Tuesday, December 7, 5pm: Second Test; Mumbai
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