Along with Santner, New Zealand includes THESE two for upcoming tri-series

New Zealand announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming T20I tri-series against South Africa and Zimbabwe, according to the ICC.

With this, the `Black Caps` have recalled several key players who were benched in the previous series. Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra and skipper Mitchell Santner have been included in the squad for the tri-series. They were benched for the T20I series against Pakistan on home soil in March.

There is a call-up for uncapped batter Bevon Jacobs and pacer Adam Milne, while pace trio Ben Sears (side injury), Lockie Ferguson (load management) and Kyle Jamieson (family) are all sidelined, as is veteran Kane Williamson (unavailable).

The series will be the first for new New Zealand coach Rob Walter and will form a crucial lead-up for the side ahead of next year`s ICC Men`s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Speaking about the squad, Walter stated that he is looking forward to bringing all players together.

“I think we`ve got a really strong squad for this tour and I`m looking forward to getting the team together and getting into the work,” he said, as quoted from the official website of the ICC.

“We`ve got some good experience in the side and it`s nice to be able to welcome back a few of the players who missed the March series against Pakistan because of the IPL (Indian Premier League),” he added.

“It should be a great T20 tri-series with South Africa, who are a very strong side, and Zimbabwe, who play well at home in their own conditions,” Walter said.

The 49-year-old will be aiming to find the right combinations that can be successful during the upcoming 2026 T20 World Cup.

“With the T20 World Cup around the corner, all of our upcoming series are critically important to our build-up. This series gives us the opportunity to test the breadth of our squad, explore different players and potentially different combinations against some quality opposition,” he said.

The Kiwis will begin their tri-series campaign with a match against South Africa in Harare on July 16.

New Zealand squad: Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Will O`Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi.

(With ANI Inputs)

This article first appeared on Mid Day