New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner will take part in the first T20I of the five-match series against Pakistan on Friday after testing positive for COVID-19.
The first T20I of the five-match series between New Zealand and Pakistan will take place today at Auckland’s Eden Park.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) took to X (formerly Twitter) to curb the off-roader’s infection.
“Mitch Santner will not be heading to Eden Park tonight for the KFC T20I opener against Pakistan after testing positive for COVID earlier today. He will continue to be monitored over the next few days and will return only to Hamilton. #NZvPAK,” New Zealand tweeted.
New Zealand to miss Santner’s services in the first T20I
Mitchell Santner missing the first T20I against Pakistan due to COVID-19 is a major blow to New Zealand as he is one of the main instrumental players in the T20I set-up.
Santner is a key player in the Kiwi T20I setup, scoring 610 runs in 64 innings at an average of 16. 94, over half a century. He took 105 wickets in 93 games.
With Santner absent from the first T20I, New Zealand promoted Ish Sodhi to the starting XI for the first game of the series against Pakistan.
New Zealand and Pakistan play XI
NZ: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Adam Milne, Matthew Henry, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears
PAK: Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Azam Khan (w), Aamer Jamal, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi (c), Abbas Afridi, Haris Rauf