New Zealand's Tom Latham to miss T20I series against India with a broken finger

New Zealand's stand-in skipper for the third Test against Australia, Tom Latham, has been ruled out for four weeks with a broken finger. Latham sustained the injury when he took the final catch of the Australian innings before the arrival of the declaration, and now joins a long list of players out with injury.

New Zealand made five changes to the side after the second Test owing to injuries as well as an illness to skipper Kane Williamson, and Latham's injury further reduces the depth of the squad. However, he is likely to be fit for the two-match Test series against India in February and will be hopeful of making a return in the three-match ODI series before that. But he will miss the five-match T20I series against India, with the first match set to be played on 24th January.

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New Zealand Cricket (NZC) in a statement said:

“Latham will target a return to fitness in time to be available for the upcoming one-day series against India in early February.”

Head coach Gary Stead gave an update on pacer Lockie Ferguson who injured himself during his debut Test at Perth.

Stead said,

"Lockie Ferguson (right calf-strain) has returned to running and performing bowling drills. He'll continue to progress over the next couple of weeks with the potential to return to domestic cricket early next month."

An update from Gary Stead as the Test squad depart from Sydney #AUSvNZ https://t.co/q5B1Q4SXuv

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) January 7, 2020

Stead also spoke about the injuries sustained by Trent Boult and Matt Henry and gave an update about the illness-struck Williamson and Mitchell Santner. New Zealand will be announcing their squad for the T20I series against India in the coming week.

"Trent Boult has been resting his broken right-hand and will return to bowling later this week. He'll be touch-and-go to be available for the Indian T20 series later this month and we'll continue to monitor him closely over the next few weeks.

"Matt Henry has had his broken left-thumb splinted and will require around a month for it to fully heal. In this time he will still be able to practise bowling and will look at a return to play early next month.

"Kane, Henry and Mitch are regaining their health after being struck down with Influenza A and will continue be monitored as they slowly rebuild their strength and fitness."