Mitchell Santner Officially Appointed as New Zealand’s White-Ball Captain

Mitchell Santner officially becomes New Zealand’s white-ball captain

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has officially appointed Mitchell Santner as the new captain of the white-ball team replacing Kane Williamson. Kane Williamson stepped down from the role after the T20 World Cup in June.

Santner who has previously captained 24 T20Is and 4 ODIs, will lead the team against Sri Lanka. The Champions Trophy also will be held under his captaincy in February 2025. Notably, Mitchell Santner has achieved the feat of becoming the first New Zealand bowler to take five wickets twice in Tests against India.

Santner will lead New Zealand in ODIs and T20s

The New Zealand team is consistently performing well. The team will start preparation for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Mitchell Santner will lead the team in the World Cup. After officially becoming captain, his first match will be the upcoming T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka. This series will be held at the end of December.

After the series against Sri Lanka, the New Zealand team has a packed schedule. Which includes the ODI tri-series in Pakistan, the ICC Champions Trophy and the home series against Pakistan.

Santner said,

“It is definitely a great honour and privilege. As a young child, your dream is to play in the New Zealand team, but taking over the responsibility of captaining the team in two formats is like achieving a special achievement.”

Santner’s performance in white ball:

Santner has taken 108 wickets and scored 1370 runs in his ODI cricket career. Santner strike rate in batting is 90.91.

His economy rate in ODIs is 4.86. His performance in T20 has also been excellent. He has taken 117 wickets in 106 matches with an economy rate of 7.02.

He has also scored 710 runs in T20Is at a strike rate of 119.93.

With his excellent skills, style and experience, he can take the New Zealand team to a different level. It is expected that under his leadership, the New Zealand team will achieve great heights.

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