Mitchell Santner has recovered from his knee surgery and has been included in the 13-member New Zealand squad for the one-off T20I against Sri Lanka, scheduled to be played on January 11.
Santner underwent knee surgery in March last year and spent the rest of 2018 recovering from the injury. The left-hander played for his domestic team ‘Northern Districts’ and even though he took just three wickets in three games, he was highly impressive and economical.
He ended with figures of 1 for 16 in his four overs against Otago to prove his fitness and return back to international cricket.
Jimmy Neesham, who last played a T20I in January 2017 against Bangladesh, is also included in the squad which will be led by Tim Southee with Kane Williamson rested ahead of the limited overs series against India.
Also, Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme have been rested while Corey Anderson and Adam Milne weren’t considered for selection as they continue to regain full fitness.
After the one-off T20I against Sri Lanka, New Zealand will compete with India in five ODIs and three T20Is starting from January 23.
New Zealand T20I Squad:
Tim Southee (c), Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor.
