Tom Latham to lead New Zealand in Bangladesh and Pakistan with IPL-bound players unavailable

Tom Latham – and not Kane Williamson – will lead New Zealand on their white-ball tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh starting September. The opener will stand in as leader on both tours across white-ball formats.

Several first team players, including Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson and Lockie Ferguson will be unavailable owing to their involvement in the Indian Premier League, which clashes with part of the tour.

New Zealand take on Bangladesh in five T20Is in September, followed by three ODIs and five T20Is in Pakistan.

New Zealand chief executive David White said managing players’ workloads and their wellbeing was the main priority ahead of a busy season, with a tour of India and the T20 World Cup to follow the Bangladesh and Pakistan legs.

“The need to safeguard the wellbeing of our players and support staff is now very real, and we’ve endeavoured to do this by carefully managing their workloads over this winter’s massive playing programme”, White said. “I’m satisfied we’ve selected strong squads for all our touring commitments this winter. As the Black Caps proved in England earlier this year, we have good depth in the New Zealand game and I’m confident all the squads chosen will acquit themselves well.”

The inclusion of some young players with growing domestic reputations is likely to be one of the more closely watched aspects of the tour for New Zealand. The 21-year old left-hand batter Rachin Ravindra is in the squad for the T20I tour of Bangladesh and the Pakistan ODIs, while 22-year old Finn Allen is part of all three squads. Allrounder Cole McConchie and pace bowler Ben Sears are the other uncapped players to travel to Bangladesh and Pakistan.

White said that the IPL dates coinciding with the Pakistan tour had presented a “unique” challenge. Originally scheduled to be held in April and May, the IPL was postponed midway after a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases. The remainder of the tournament will not be played September 19 onwards in the UAE.

“It’s a pragmatic approach,” White said. “We’ve always tried to be realistic about the IPL and this particular issue is very much a one-off, caused by a unique set of circumstances.”

The New Zealand Cricket statement said Ross Taylor was originally scheduled to be included for the ODI leg of the Pakistan series. But with quarantine protocols and the fact it will be a three-match series, they have decided to rest Taylor keeping the upcoming home summer and New Zealand’s re-ball tour of India in mind.

The squad leaves for Bangladesh on August 23 for the T20I series. After that, they move to Pakistan, their first visit to the country since the 2002 tour that was cancelled midway in tragic circumstances, when a bomb blast near the team hotel in Karachi killed 14 people on the morning of what was scheduled to be the second Test. That tour will start with the first of three ODIs on September 17, followed by five T20Is.

Squad for Bangladesh T20Is and Pakistan ODIs: Tom Latham (capt, wk), Finn Allen, Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell (wk), Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry (ODI only), Scott Kuggeleijn, Cole McConchie, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears (T20 only), Blair Tickner, Will Young.

Squad for Pakistan T20Is: Tom Latham (capt, wk), Finn Allen, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell (wk), Mark Chapman, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Ajaz Patel, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears, Blair Tickner, Will Young.

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