No Trent Boult, Martil Guptill as New Zealand announce T20I, ODI squads for India series

New Zealand have not included their senior players Trent Boult and Martin Guptill in the squad for their upcoming home series against India.

Guptill and Boult both were part of the New Zealand squad for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. While Boult, who picked up eight wickets from five matches, had opted out of a central contract to focus more on playing T20 leagues around the globe, Guptill did not play a single game in the tournament Down Under.

Boult has been left out of the India series in order to give players with New Zealand Cricket Contract (NZC) a go, Finn Allen once again has been preferred ahead of Guptill for both ODIs and T20Is.

However, BlackCaps head coach Gary Stead has said being dropped for the upcoming series is certainly not the end for the for both the players.

"When Trent opted out of his NZC contract in August, we indicated that priority would be given to those players with either central or domestic contracts, and that's been the case here. We're all aware of Trent's world class ability, but at this time - as we build towards more global events, we want to give opportunities and experiences to others.

"The emergence and success of Finn at the top of the order in white-ball cricket means a guy of the class of Martin Guptill misses out – that's just the nature of high-performance sport. With the 50-over World Cup less than a year away we're keen to give Finn every opportunity to keep gaining ODI experience, especially against quality opposition such as India," added Stead in the same interview.

Adding further, Stead said that the message for both Boult and Guptill is that "here's a lot of international cricket ahead and the door is certainly not closed to them."

Guptill, who made his New Zealand debut in 2009, is his country's leading run-getter in T20Is with 3,531 runs at a strike-rate of 135.70. The opening batsman is third on the list of New Zealand's highest run-scorers in ODIs with 7,346 runs at an average of 41.73.

Meanwhile, Tom Latham has returned to the squad for the ODIs with Devon Conway donning the gloves in the T20Is as he did in the T20 World Cup. Jimmy Neesham will miss the third ODI to prepare for his wedding. As a result, Henry Nicholls will replace him in the squad for the game in Christchurch.

Adam Milne could play his first ODI in five years, while the fast bowling unti will include Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner along with Tim Southee, who is on 199 ODI wickets.

India's tour of New Zealand is set to kick-off with the three-match T20I series. The first game is on Nov. 18 at Sky Stadium in Wellington. The remaining two games are on Nov. 20 and Nov. 22 in Mount Maunganui and Napier respectively.

The three-match ODI series is going to begin on Nov. 25 at Auckland's Eden Garden, with the final two games of the tour be played on Nov. 27 and Nov. 30 in Hamilton and Christchurch.

"There's always an incredible buzz when India come to town. The energy and noise is incredible and I know the team are really looking forward to getting back and playing in front of some big home crowds. India are a world-class side stacked with IPL stars and we know we'll have to be right at the top of our game," added BlackCaps coach Stead.

India will also have senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul missing. As a result, Hardik Pandya will lead the T20I side, while Shikhar Dhawan, as he has done on many occasions recently, will captain in the ODIs.

New Zealand T20I squad vs India:

Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner

New Zealand ODI squad vs India:

Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Tom Latham (wk), Matt Henry