Despite heroics in India, Ajaz Patel left out of New Zealand squad for Bangladesh Tests

New Zealand left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, who created history in India by becoming only the third bowler to claim all 10 wickets in a Test innings, has been left out of the squad for the home series against Bangladesh.

Ajaz claimed all 10 wickets in the first innings of the second Test against India in Mumbai. He added four more in the second innings even as New Zealand lost the Test by 372 runs.

On Wednesday, New Zealand announced a 13-member squad for the series against Bangladesh, which will begin with the first of the two Tests on New Year’s Day at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.

Explaining the decision to omit Ajaz from the squad for the Bangladesh series at home, Black Caps coach Gary Stead was quoted as saying on New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) official website:

“You do feel for Ajaz after his record-breaking display in India. However, we’ve always applied a horses-for-courses selection policy and believe the players selected best fit the way we want to take on Bangladesh here at home.”

New Zealand have picked spin-bowling all-rounder Rachin Ravindra and seam-bowling all-rounder Daryl Mitchell in the squad. On the inclusion of the duo in the squad ahead of Ajaz, Stead stated:

“We feel having both Rachin and Daryl in the squad gives us a nice balance and the ability to pick a side best suited to the conditions we expect.”

Both Ravindra and Mitchell were part of the New Zealand squad for the two-match Test series against India and came up with decent performances.

---

“He’s done an excellent job in the past”- New Zealand coach on skipper Tom Latham

With regular captain Kane Williamson being ruled out of the Test series with an elbow injury, Tom Latham has been named leader for the Bangladesh series. The left-hander captained the team after Williamson was unfit for the Mumbai Test against India as well.

Admitting that New Zealand will miss Williamson, Stead expressed confidence that Latham will do a good job in the regular captain’s absence. The Kiwi coach said:

“It’s obviously disappointing not to have Kane available for this series but, as we noted in India, he is undergoing a sustained period of rest followed by rehabilitation, strengthening and gradual batting loading. We have every confidence in Tom leading the side - he’s done an excellent job in the past when called upon."

Devon Conway also returns to the New Zealand squad after missing out on the T20 World Cup final with a broken hand.

New Zealand Test squad: Tom Latham (captain), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, Will Young