Left-arm quick Jayden Lennox has earned a maiden call-up to New Zealand's white-ball squads for the India tour next month. He features in the ODI squad alongside uncapped bowling-allrounder Kristian Clarke, legspinning-allrounder Adithya Ashok, seam-bowling allrounder Josh Clarkson and fast bowler Michael Rae, who made his Test debut earlier this month against West Indies.
Michael Bracewell will captain the 15-member ODI squad in the absence of Mitchell Santner, whose groin injury is being managed. Santner will return to lead the T20I squad, which features big-hitting batters Bevon Jacobs and Tim Robinson as well as Mark Chapman and Matt Henry, both of whom are returning from ankle and calf injuries respectively. Henry will miss the ODIs to continue his rehabilitation from a calf tear in a bid to return for the T20Is and the subsequent men's T20 World Cup.
Kane Williamson was unavailable for the ODIs because of his commitments in the SA20, where he will play for Durban's Supergiants.
Clarke was called up to the ODI squad during the home series against England and then to the Test squad against West Indies but did not make his debut. Nathan Smith, William O'Rourke and Blair Tickner were not considered because of their side, back and shoulder injuries respectively, while Tom Latham will skip the ODIs for the birth of his third child. Fast bowler Kyle Jamieson and Zak Foulkes are part of both the white-ball squads while Rachin Ravindra and quick Jacob Duffy have been rested from the ODIs following a busy home summer.
"Jayden has been an identified player of interest for some time and has some good New Zealand "A" experience under his belt," New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said of Lennox, who has picked up eight wickets in five Ford Trophy outings for Central Districts this season. "He's consistently been one of the top performers in white-ball cricket domestically for a number of seasons.
"Playing in the sub-continent is obviously very different to what we're used to in New Zealand, so any opportunity we can get to expose our guys to those conditions can only be a good thing, especially prior to a T20 World Cup in the subcontinent."
Mitchell Hay and Devon Conway will keep wicket for the ODIs and T20Is, respectively. Lockie Ferguson (ILT20), Adam Milne (SA20), Finn Allen and Tim Seifert (both BBL) are slated to join the T20I squad at the back end of the series with an eye on the T20 World Cup.
The tour starts with the ODIs from January 11 in Vadodara before the five-match T20I series begins on January 21 in Nagpur.
New Zealand ODI squad vs India
Michael Bracewell (capt), Adithya Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay (wk), Kule Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Jayden Lennox, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae, Will Young
New Zealand T20I squad vs India
Mitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wk), Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Ish Sodhi