Kane Williamson to captain New Zealand in ODIs and T20s against Pakistan

Kane Willamson will lead New Zealand in the limited-overs series against Pakistan

In the absence of regular skipper Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson will lead New Zealand in the five-match ODI series and the T20 series against Pakistan, starting on Thursday. The 33-year-old will return back home, in order to prepare for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka.

New Zealand will head into the series high on confidence after securing an innings and 80-run win over Pakistan at Sharjah, which helped them level the three-match Test series 1-1. Apart from the ODIs, the two teams will square off in two T20Is as well.

Bruce Edgar, General Manager of National Selection for New Zealand Cricket, said that this is an ongoing process of handling players’ workload before the World Cup begins in February.

“Managing players’ workloads will be an important part of our summer’s plans and this is simply an example of that.

“On the flipside, it gives us a chance to assess and evaluate other players in contention for the World Cup squad, and allows us to work on some of our contingency plans – such as developing Kane ’s captaincy experience,” Edgar said.

Along with McCullum, opening bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult will also take the flight home. Ross Taylor, however, returns to the squad after missing the South Africa ODIs due to a calf injury, while the spin department will be bolstered by the return of the experienced Daniel Vettori.

Williamson has until now captained his country in 24 ODIs and 3 T20s.

Squad: Kane Williamson (capt), Corey Anderson, Dean Brownlie, Anton Devcich, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi (wk), Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori.