Mumbai: New Zealand pacer Tim Southee has been ruled out of the three match Test series in India which start from 22nd September in Kanpur due to an ankle injury. Scans later revealed a grade two ligament strain in his left ankle.
Tim sprained his ankle during training sessions and now will head back to New Zealand for rest with a goal to be fit for the five-match ODI series which begins from 16th October in Dharmasala.
“Tim has been working hard in preparation for this tour, so he’s understandably very disappointed to be ruled out of all three Tests,” said New Zealand coach Mike Hesson. “The focus now is for Tim to give his ankle 7-10 days rest, before slowly building his bowling loads back up ahead of the ODI series.”
This injury has costed the Kiwis with their most experienced bowler in the squad. Southee had played 52 tests plucking 177 wickets. Trent Boult is the next most experienced bowler in the squad who has played 43 tests.
Matt Henry, 24, is the replacement called in place of injured Tim Southee. Henry has played four tests for the Black caps since his debut in May 2015 against England at Lord’s. In his last Test in February, Henry finished 0 for 134 in 41 overs across both innings. Australia had won that match with seven wickets.
He was included in the NZ’s test squad for the tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa but he was benched in all matches. Henry has picked only 10 wickets in Test but has a good record with a bat as he has scored 152 runs in seven innings. He has the highest score of 66 runs and a batting strike rate of 86.36. He can definitely become a handy batsman for the Kiwis and maybe Southee’s injury can be a blessing in disguise.
New Zealand Test squad
Kane Williamson (capt), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling
In: Matt Henry
Out: Tim Southee