New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has named its squads for the forthcoming ODI and T20I tour of India, which begins on January 11 with the 50-over leg. Veteran hitter Kane Williamson will miss the tour owing to SA20 2026 obligations, but uncapped duo Jayden Lennox and Kristian Clarke have been included to the ODI team.
Williamson, who has retired from Twenty20 Internationals, will fly in to South Africa and turn out for the Durban Super Giants. There are no such concerns for New Zealand, where the injured Mitchell Santner remains sidelined – albeit only included in the T20I squad – and Michael Bracewell will captain in ODIs.
Slow left-armer Lennox has claimed 69 wickets in 54 List A appearances. Right-arm medium bowler Clarke, who took 52 wickets in 34 List A appearances, had an average of 28.17. Adithya Ashok, Josh Clarkson, Nick Kelly and Michael Rae are also in the squad to take on a strong Indian side.
Mitch Hay will take over the wicketkeeping duties in ODIs in place of Tom Latham and Devon Conway for T20Is. Jacob Duffy and Rachin Ravindra have been rested for the ODI series in order to rest up after playing domestic seasons.
However, they will be flying back in for the T20I portion. Matt Henry will rejoin the squad from the T20s as he continues his recovery from ankle and calf niggles.
New Zealand coach hails Jayden Lennox’s consistent domestic white-ball form
New Zealand head coach Rob Walter responded to Lennox’s selection by claiming that he had been on their radar for a long time. He explained, as cited on their official website:
“Jayden has been an identified player of interest for some time and has some good New Zealand “A” experience under his belt. He’s consistently been one of the top performers in white-ball cricket domestically for a number of seasons.”
Walter believes playing in India before the T20 World Cup is the ideal preparation, adding:
“Playing in the sub-continent is obviously very different to what we’re used to in New Zealand, so any opportunity we can get to expose our guys to those conditions can only be a good thing, especially prior to a T20 World Cup in the subcontinent.”
The Black Caps will also benefit from the return of Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne, Finn Allen, and Tim Seifert for the T20 World Cup, who will join the squad in India following their franchise commitments.
New Zealand ODI squad: Michael Bracewell (c), Adi Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay, Kyle Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Jayden Lennox, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae, Will Young.
New Zealand T20I squad: Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Ish Sodhi.
