There have been changes in the New Zealand Squad before the limited-overs tour of Bangladesh since left-arm pacer Ben Lister has been included in the squad after all-rounder Kristian Clarke suffered an injury.
Clarke, who had played in a New Zealand national cricket team setup, picked up a split webbing in his right hand when fielding, during a match between New Zealand A and Sri Lanka A. The injury has disqualified him in the series to come and has terminated his short-term dreams of playing in Bangladesh.
The 23 year old was beginning to establish a name in the white-ball format. The early signs of promise as an emerging all-rounder are that he has played three ODIs and one T20I during the New Zealand tour of India earlier this year.
Ben Lister has been summoned to fill the gap. The left-arm quick bowler has got invaluable experience in the ODI and T20 appearances. Lister also played in the New Zealand A team in Sri Lanka and has also played abroad in international tours such as Pakistan in 2024. His addition gives the bowling attack some balance particularly in sub continental conditions where variation is critical.
In the meantime, there has been one more change that has affected the squad. The series of ODIs will be missed by fast bowler Ben Sears who has been taken on as an overseas replacement in the PSL, which has seen international availability being impacted by franchise commitments as well.
This re-balancing demonstrates the dynamic changing very fast because of injuries and other commitments. In the case of New Zealand, depth will be very important since they will still be required to cope with workloads and fitness of players in various formats.
