On November 18, Wednesday, spin bowler Mitchell Santner got named New Zealand captain for both the white-ball formats, as he has filled in a six-month vacancy after Kane Williamson stepped down fro the position. Santner will begin his tenure with a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka at home from December 28.
The 32-year-old has preciously led the New Zealand team in 28 white-ball matches on a stand-in basis as Williamson sidelined his role after the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in June. Santner called the full-time appointment as a “huge honour”.
“When you’re a young kid, the dream was always to play for New Zealand, but to have the opportunity to officially lead my country in two formats is special. It’s a new challenge and I’m excited to get stuck into the important period of white ball cricket that we have ahead of us,” he said.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead stated how Santner will be ‘calm and collected’ in his leadership, with his appointment allowing test captain Tom Latham to push his complete focus on the longer format.
“Tom’s doing a great job as full-time Test captain since taking over in October, and we’re keen to allow him to focus on that job which requires a considerable amount of time and energy,” Stead said.
The appointment of Santner has come in a day after he got named the Player of the Match where New Zealand registered 423-run victory over England in third Test in Hamilton.
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