Star New Zealand opening batter Devon Conway is doubtful for the five-match ODI series against India. The left-handed batter, who has represented the Kiwis in all three formats of the game, suffered an injury on Tuesday while fielding during a training session, and there are question marks over his availability for the series.
According to New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner, Conway, who is New Zealand’s first-choice opening batter in ODIs, is doubtful following a collision with fast bowler Matt Henry during fielding practice ahead of the series opener.
The first ODI of the five-match series between India and New Zealand is scheduled to take place at Eden Park in Auckland on Wednesday from 07:30 AM IST.
While speaking to the media after New Zealand’s
training session on Tuesday, Santner confirmed that Henry had undergone concussion testing and seemed ‘okay’ for the series opener, but Conway was undergoing further assessment.
“It’s one of those ones you want to take very seriously, head knocks. We have a backup batter in line just in case, but we’ll wait and see how he pulls up. But it didn’t look great to be fair,” Santner said.
He confirmed that Tim Seifert is New Zealand’s back-up batter for the ODI series and will come into the XI if Conway is ruled out.
The right-handed wicketkeeper-batter, who played a knock of 90-plus runs against India in the fifth T20I on Sunday (November 1), was also added to the squad for the first three matches on Monday as a replacement for the injured Rachin Ravindra.
The Kiwis suffered a double injury blow on Monday when Rachin and Mark Chapman were ruled out of the home series against the world No. 1 ODI team. The duo failed to recover from their injury-related issues.
In addition to Seifert, Henry Nicholls has been added to New Zealand’s squad for the first three matches, while Dean Foxcroft has been included for the fourth and fifth ODIs.
“Everyone knows what an asset Mark and Rachin are to this side, so it’s a shame they have to miss this series,” New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said.
“I caught up with Mark last week and although he’s disappointed, he’s working hard to get back on the field. With Rachin, his shoulder hasn’t quite recovered to a position where he could field comfortably in white-ball cricket, so with the Test series later this month, we don’t want to take any undue risks,” he added.
