New Zealand cricket team arrived at Delhi Airport on Thursday ahead of a Test series. New Zealand is scheduled to play a one-off Test against Afghanistan and a three-match Test series against India.
Ahead of the one-off Test match against Afghanistan, Team New Zealand arrived in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida on September 5. According to ANI report, New Zealand Test skipper Tim Southee, star batter Kane Williamson, vice-captain Tom Latham, and other members of the squad were spotted at Delhi Airport on Thursday morning.
Given below is the 15 member New Zealand squad for one-off Test against Afghanistan. The list of players include Tim Southee (C), Tom Blundell (WK), Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (VC), Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
Five spin-bowling options in the ‘Black Caps’ squad include Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Michael Bracewell, and Glenn Phillips.
The cricket match will be held at Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground between September 9 and 13. Afghanistan Cricket Board in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said, “Welcome @BlackCaps.” The post further reads, “The New Zealand team has arrived at the hotel in Greater Noida, India, for the one-off Test match against Afghanistan's national team.”
It is important to note that star Afghan all-rounder Rashid Khan will skip the one-off Test against New Zealand due to a back injury, ESPNcricinfo reported. While playing in Afghanistan's domestic T20 tournament - the Shpageeza Cricket League (SCL) for Speen Ghar Tigers (SGT) - Rashid sustained the injury two months ago.
This series marks Afghanistan's return to playing 'home' matches in India after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approved the country to use Indian venues for their games. This comes after a gap of four years, Afghanistan, which is now under Taliban rule, sought to continue playing international cricket.
Given below is the 20 member Afghanistan squad for one-off Test against New Zealand. The list of players include Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ikram Alikhil (WK), Shahidullah Kamal, Gulbadin Naib, Afsar Zazai (WK), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ziaurrahman Akbar, Shamsurrahman, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Nijat Masoud, Farid Ahmad Malik, Naveed Zadran, Khalil Ahmad and Yama Arab.
(With ANI inputs)
