Neil Wagner, a left-arm fast bowler, has been called up to replace the injured Matt Henry in New Zealand’s team for the two-Test series against Bangladesh.
Henry suffered a hamstring injury during the World Cup match against South Africa on November 1 and was thus ruled out for the remainder of the tournament. He was supposed to be healthy for the Tests in Bangladesh, but fresh scans and examinations revealed that the injury had not healed adequately.
“It’ll be great to have Neil’s skill and experience on the tour of Bangladesh,” New Zealand selector Sam Wells said. “His track record speaks for itself, and we all know what a fantastic competitor he is.” He’s played a lot of cricket in the subcontinent, and I know he’s looking forward to the challenge.”
Wagner, 37, had missed the previous two rounds of the Plunkett Shield owing to a back issue before returning to action for Northern Districts earlier this week. Even though he was not included to New Zealand’s original spin-heavy squad for the Bangladesh tour, the last of his 63 Tests was also New Zealand’s last in the format, against Sri Lanka in March.
The first Test against Bangladesh will be the first of New Zealand’s current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, which runs from 2023 to 2025. Wagner had 18 wickets at the end of the previous WTC cycle.
The majority of the New Zealand squad, who also competed in the World Cup in India, is recuperating in Dubai before heading to Sylhet next week. The other Bangladesh-bound players leave on November 21 ahead of the first Test, which begins on November 28 in Sylhet.
Updated squad: Tim Southee (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Neil Wagner
