HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND - FEBRUARY 05: Ross Taylor of New Zealand acknowledges his century during game one of the One Day International Series between New Zealand and India at Seddon Park on February 05, 2020 in Hamilton, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Ross Taylor will miss the opening One Day International Cricket match against Bangladesh due to a hamstring injury which opens the door for New Zealand to field two debutants in their batting line-up in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Taylor, who is New Zealand’s leading run-scorer in ODIs, will remain with the squad and it is hoped that he will recover to play the final two matches.
Mark Chapman has been called into the squad as cover for Taylor although his absence will most likely mean first caps for Devon Conway and Will Young. Conway was already favoured to make the XI in the absence of captain, Kane Williamson, and Young would now appear set to replace Taylor.
The opening game of the series will be the first One Day International since 2014 where New Zealand have had neither Williamson nor Taylor in the XI.
New Zealand have not played ODI cricket for more than a year, since their curtailed tour of Australia when the pandemic first struck, and have only played four matches since the 2019 World Cup final, which they lost to England at Lord’s.
The first One Day International will be played at Dunedin on 20th March, while the second game will be held at Christchurch on 23rd March. The third and final One Day International is scheduled for 26th March at Wellington. This will be New Zealand’s first series in the World Cup Super League.
