Star batsman Williamson, who recently recovered from a nine-month-old knee injury, returns to lead New Zealand in the upcoming five-match T20 series against Pakistan, starting on January 12. He had skipped the previous ODI and T20 series against Bangladesh as a precaution. In the third game of the Pakistan series, on January 18, all-rounder Mitchell Santner will captain the team in Williamson’s absence. Devon Conway, who missed the white ball series against Bangladesh, is back, along with pace bowlers Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson making their international comebacks since the World Cup. Unfortunately, Kyle Jamieson and Michael Bracewell are unavailable due to ongoing injuries, and all-rounder Rachin Ravindra is rested after a remarkable performance at the World Cup, as confirmed by Coach Gary Stead.

“Rachin’s a young player who has immense value to New Zealand Cricket and we therefore want to look after his wellbeing,” Stead said.

“He’s the only player or staff member to have been touring non-stop for the past five months across five countries and that’s simply not sustainable.

“He’s still very much part of our thinking for the T20 World Cup in June and will come back into the reckoning for the T20 series against Australia in February.”

New Zealand:
Kane Williamson (capt), Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Josh Clarkson, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Ben Sears,Mark Chapman,Lockie Ferguson.