Tri-Nation Series
Tickner Joins NZ squad for T20 tri-series as Santner on parental leave
|| CF DESK ||
New Zealand added pacer Blair Tickner to the team for the T20 Tri-Series in Christchurch, which also includes Pakistan and Bangladesh, on Thursday as a replacement for spinner Mitchell Santner, who is on paternity leave.
Santner will not arrive at the camp until the weekend after his first child was born last week.
Santner's absence from New Zealand's first game of the tri-series, against Pakistan on Saturday, has left the team with only one specialist spin option in Ish Sodhi, though Kane Williamson can also rely on Michael Bracewell's part-time offspin.
New Zealand is preparing for the T20 World Cup and is anticipated to utilize all 15 players in the Black Caps squad, with selector Gavin Larsen indicating on Monday that rotation would be used and different combinations would be tried over the next four or five games, depending on outcomes.
"Certainly the goal is to rotate the squad across the playing opportunities through that tri-series and to basically fine-tune what has been our existing game plan over the recent time," Larsen was quoted as saying by the local media.
"There's certainly nothing majorly different that we're going to be focusing on - they're very important preparation games for us" he added.
The T20I triangular series kicks off with the two touring teams - Pakistan and Bangladesh - facing off on Friday. The three sides will play each other twice each in the round-robin stage before the final, scheduled for October 14. All the matches will be played in Christchurch.