New Zealand have announced their squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, scheduled to begin next month. The board has opted to rest first-team captain Kane Williamson and Trent Boult for the series, and Tim Southee has been named the captain.
New Zealand Cricket's selector Gavin Larsen said that he sees the bilateral series against Sri Lanka as a good opportunity to rest the two senior players.
"Kane and Trent played an enormous role in our recent World Cup campaign and with a big summer ahead, we see it as a good opportunity to give them a rest,” said Larsen.
However, the Kiwis will still have a majority of senior players in the side, including Ross Taylor, Colin Munro, Martin Guptill, Ish Sodhi, and of course, Southee.
The T20I series will also mark the beginning of New Zealand's cycle in the shortest format of the game, in the build-up to the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia next year.
"Following that amazing ride in the ODI World Cup, it’s exciting to begin setting our sights on another world event,” Larsen said.
Here's the full squad:
Tim Southee (c), Todd Astle, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomm, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Seth Rance, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor
