Maiden call-ups galore as New Zealand announce young squad for home ODIs against Bangladesh

Injuries to several star performers have forced the New Zealand selectors to name a fairly young 13-member squad for the upcoming home ODI series against Bangladesh. The team announcement has brought plenty of happiness to a bunch of youngsters who have been sweating it out in the domestic circuit.

Canterbury’s 22-year-old seamer Will O’Rourke, and 26-year-old Central Stags allrounder Josh Clarkson have earned their maiden call-ups while leg spinner Adi Ashok has been selected for the first time in ODIs to represent the Blackcaps.

Ashok, 21, made his T20I debut earlier in August against the United Arab Emirates but couldn’t get any more opportunities after that. Hence, he would like to display his leg-spinning prowess against Bangladesh, as he is likely to get a chance to feature in the playing XI during the course of the series. 

Several senior players like Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, Glenn Phillips, Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner have been rested for the series as they are currently playing in a two-match Test series against Bangladesh in Bangladesh and won’t be home until next week.

Notably, several Kiwi players are nursing injuries at the moment. Michael Bracewell (Achilles), Lockie Ferguson (Achilles), Henry Shipley (back), Matt Henry (hamstring), James Neesham (ankle), and Ben Lister (hamstring) were not considered for selction while the veteran left-arm pacer Trent Boult made himself unavailable for selection.

New Zealand Cricket’s high-performance network coaches Dean Brownlie (batting coach) and Graeme Aldrige (bowling coach) will join head coach Garry Stead for the series.

New Zealand’s squad for the ODI series against Bangladesh:

Tom Latham (c), Adi Ashok* (games 2 & 3), Finn Allen, Tom Blundell, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Henry Nicholls, Will O’Rourke, Rachin Ravindra, Ish Sodhi (only for first ODI), Will Young

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