Captaincy duties fall to Mitchell
Black Caps all-rounder Daryl Mitchell will join his father John as a New Zealand sporting team skipper this week.
Mitchell, 27, will lead a youthful New Zealand XI for two onedayers against an India A side stacked with 10 internationals.
His father, current England defence coach John Mitchell, captained the All Blacks in three midweek matches on their tour of Britain in 1993.
Daryl Mitchell is already one up on dad. John never played a rugby test, but Daryl made his test debut for the Black Caps against England last November in Hamilton. He has also played nine T20 internationals.
A middle order batsman and right-arm medium pacer, Mitchell will lead the New Zealand XI against India A at Lincoln’s Bert Sutcliffe Oval today and Sunday.
The NZ XI squad features Auckland 20-year-old Finn Allen, who scored a breakthrough century for the New Zealand XI in their last match against England two months ago.
Experienced Central Districts Stags wicketkeeper Dane Cleaver will be behind the stumps.
India A boast test stars Mayank Agarwal, ranked 13th in the ICC test batting rankings, and
20-year-old Prithvi Shaw – who scored a century on debut and averages 118.5 after two tests.
Experienced international Vijay Shankar is the leading allrounder and there’s no shortage of quality spinners with Krunal Pandya, Axar Patel and Khaleel Ahmed all having played for the Indian senior side.
India A will be captained by Shubman Gill, the player of the tournament at the 2018 ICC
Under-19 World Cup hosted in New Zealand.
Canterbury speedster Andrew
Hazeldine earns his first call-up to the national stage and is joined in the pace department by Canterbury team-mate Henry Shipley and Northern Districts fast bowler Zak Gibson.
Canterbury’s Jack Boyle will open the batting with Jakob Bhula while Theo van Woerkom is the specialist spinner.
Selector Gavin Larsen said the New Zealand XI had an exciting couple of days in store.
‘‘It’s a great opportunity for our guys, many of whom are at different stages of their careers,’’ he said.
‘‘India A are full of international experience and we know how tough it is to make that senior team so we’re under no illusions about the challenge ahead.
‘‘Coach John Bracewell and myself are looking forward to seeing how the players respond, and who stands up.’’
The New Zealand XI squad is selected from the three major associations no longer in contention for the Dream11 Super Smash finals, along with players who were not required by their major association in the domestic T20 competition.