New Zealand Announce Squad For Test Series Against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka; Tim Southee To Lead

New Zealand Announce Test Squad: The Blackcaps are touring Asia for the Test matches against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, with Tim Southee to lead the side. Here are the details. Read below.

New Zealand Announce Test Squad: New Zealand are all se to resume their red-ball cricketing action, as they embark a tour of Asia in the month of September. The Blackcaps are scheduled to play a one-off Test match against Afghanistan, followed by two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

For the match against Afghanistan, the venue is India, as both the sides will be playing their match in Greater Noida. The fixture will though not be counted in the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle, as Afghanistan are not a part of the championship, but the series against Sri Lanka will be a part of the cycle.

"Test tours to the sub-continent can ask some really tough questions of pace bowlers due to the nature of the pitches and the heat and humidity. While we’re going over with an open mind around conditions, there is an understanding that all our bowling options may be needed across the different Tests. Tim and I have discussed this, and the need during these overseas tours to balance the workloads of the pace-bowlers, including himself, to ensure the team is best served," said Gary Stead, New Zealand coach, as reported by ICC.

"We know how important the points in Sri Lanka will be to our chances of pushing for a finals spot in England next year. We managed one win from the two Test series in challenging conditions in Bangladesh last December and are keen to build on that. The whole squad is looking forward to test their skills in the longest form of the game in the sub-continent," he added.

 

Squad: Tim Southee (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (vc), Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Kane Williamson, Will Young

New Zealand's Complete Schedule For Test Matches Against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka (All Details Are As Per Indian Standard Time)

Fixture	Venue	Day and Date	Time
New Zealand Vs Afghanistan, One-off Test Match	Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground, Greater Noida	Monday, September 9 - Friday, September 13	03:30 PM
New Zealand Vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test Match	Galle International Stadium, Galle	Wednesday, September 18 - Sunday, September 22	10:00 AM
New Zealand Vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test Match	Galle International Stadium, Galle	Thursday, September 26 - Monday, September 30	10:00 AM