October 23 in Wellington, New Zealand: Mitchell Santner was named temporary leader by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka that is coming up.

NZC said that in the summer, they will name a new long-term ODI and T20I leader. The experienced spin bowler will be in charge of a 15-person team that includes Nathan Smith, an unknown bowling all-rounder, and Mitchell Hay, a wicketkeeper-batsman.

Smith won the New Zealand Cricket Awards in March and was named the NZC’s Men’s Domestic Player of the Year. Last month, he got his first government deal.

Last season, Smith played for Wellington and took 24 wickets in all local white-ball events. His best performance was 4/5 against Otago in the Super Smash, which was the best of his career.

Hay played his first game for New Zealand. He won Canterbury’s Male Player of the Year award in April of this year.

Glenn Phillips, Will Young, and Henry Nicholls will be in charge of hitting. The three players will help out with hitting, and Nicholls had a great season in the Ford Trophy last summer. At 75.25, he scored 301 runs in six games. Tim Robinson was called up for a second time after performing in his first overseas tour of Pakistan in April.

Phillips and Michael Bracewell will make a strong spin-bowling all-rounder pair for the team. Lockie Ferguson will lead the fast bowling group, which also includes Smith, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, and Josh Clarkson.

As of now, six players who are playing in New Zealand’s Test match against India are on the team.

They chose not to pick Tom Blundell, Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, and Kane Williamson because they want to focus on the three Tests against England. The first game will be held in Christchurch on November 28.

We are getting ready for the ICC Champions Trophy in February 2025 and the ODI World Cup in 2027. This tour of Sri Lanka is the first step in that process. Due to the pressures of the foreign schedule and the need to peak for the biggest games, building depth is very important. So, it’s extra exciting to have a lot of players on the team who we think will be important for the Blackcaps in the future, according to a statement from NZC’s head selection Sam Wells.

Two T20Is will be played in Dambulla on November 9 and 10 to start the white-ball series. Indian teams will play three ODIs on November 13, 17, and 19. Two of the last three ODIs will be played in Pallekelle, while the first one will be played in Dambulla.

Mitchell Santner (captain), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Josh Clarkson, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Zak Foulkes, Dean Foxcroft, Mitch Hay (wk), Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Tim Robinson, Nathan Smith, Ish Sodhi, and Will Young are New Zealand’s T20I and ODI players for the Sri Lanka series.