New Zealand Announces Bracewell as ODI Skipper Against India, Santner Returns for T20Is

New Zealand has announced white-ball squads for the upcoming India tour, in which Michael Bracewell has been named as the captain of the ODI team. He will lead the ODI side in the absence of Mitchell Santner, who will return in the T20I series as skipper against India. There are plenty of new faces present in the ODI squad, making the upcoming series interesting to watch.

Left-arm finger spinner Jayden Lennox has earned a maiden call-up to New Zealand’s ODI squad. Alongside him, uncapped bowling allrounder Kristian Clarke, legspinner Adithya Ashok, seam-bowling allrounder Josh Clarkson, and fast bowler Michael Rae have also been included in the newly announced ODI team.

Talking about the T20I side, the selectors have opted to pick players who will most likely feature in the 2026 T20 World Cup. The regular captain of the Kiwis, Mitchell Santner, will therefore return in the T20Is to manage his fitness properly, as team management has been very cautious in managing his groin injury.

Keeping in view the batting-friendly conditions, some hard-hitting batters have been added in the New Zealand T20I side that will face India in the upcoming series. The selectors are confident that new players like Bevon Jacobs and Tim Robinson will make a strong impact, as their batting prowess could give New Zealand an edge in subcontinental conditions.

The star batter of the Black Caps, Kane Williamson, will unfortunately miss the entire India series due to his franchise commitments in the upcoming SA20 league. He has signed a casual playing contract with the New Zealand cricket board, which allows him to pick precise international tours with the national team.

Focus on Selecting Top Domestic Talent

Speaking about the squad selection for the upcoming India tour, New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said that they have been monitoring Jayden Lennox’s performances for quite some time. He has impressed everyone with his spin-bowling abilities in recent domestic matches, which is why the management has given him a chance to join New Zealand’s international men’s team.

"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.” said head coach of New Zealand, Rob Walter.

He then said that players need to understand subcontinental conditions to perform strongly in the upcoming T20 World Cup. The series against India will give them an opportunity to get some good exposure, so he is looking forward to the upcoming matches with high interest.

"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." said Rob Walter.

New Zealand will begin their tour of India with a three-match ODI series. After that, the visitors will face India in the T20I series, starting from January 21 in Nagpur.

New Zealand ODI Squad for India Series

Michael Bracewell (capt), Adithya Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay (wk), Kule Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Jayden Lennox, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae, Will Young

New Zealand T20I Squad for India Series

Mitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wk), Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Ish Sodhi