New Zealand were dealt with a major blow after injuries to Mark Chapman and Mark Chapman have ruled them out of the upcoming T20I series against India at home, the cricket board announced on Friday. A batting all-rounder, Chapman suffered a left hamstring tear while playing in the last month. He is on track to be fit for ODIs.
As far as Foulkes is concerned, the pacer injured his right hip flexor during a recent Canterbury men’s training and his return to play timeline is still to be determined. Allrounder Josh Clarkson and fast bowler Blair Tickner have been called in to the T20I squad to replace and Foulkes.
New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said he was grateful to be able to bring Clarkson and Tickner into the squad. “I’m gutted for Mark and Zak and I wish them both a smooth recovery,” said Walter in a NZC release.
“We’re fortunate to be able to lean on the expertise of Josh and Blair. I know they’re both very excited to be involved in what’s shaping up to be an epic T20 series.”
Mitchell Santner (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner
Earlier, India have recalled pacer for the T20Is series against New Zealand for the first time in four years. Bhuvneshwar’s India career had been on hold since the 2022 with his last game against New Zealand. Bhuvneshwar has played 229 matches across formats, claiming 294 wickets including seven five-wicket hauls.
Bhuvneshwar has had a resurgence with (RCB) in the IPL, with his 45 wickets in 31 matches at an average of 22.55 and an economy rate of 8.52, helping the franchise to back-to-back titles in 2025 and 2026. In the season, Bhuvneshwar was the second-highest wicket-taker with 28 scalps in 16 matches.
Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav
