Zeenews Sports Bureau
Wellington: Offspinner Jeetan Patel replaced injured left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori in the New Zealand squad to India later this month.
The first test begins at Hyderabad on August 23 with the second at Bangalore on August 31.
"The tour of India will be a great challenge and experience for this squad," national selection manager Kim Littlejohn said.
"Unfortunately Daniel Vettori won`t recover in time for the test series, but his injury has created and opportunity for Jeetan Patel to come back into the side. Jeetan has been in great from for Warwickshire and deserves his opportunity.”
"James Franklin has been brought into the squad to bolster the batting. He brings a lot of experience and knowledge of playing in Indian conditions which will be invaluable.”
New Zealand lost its two-Test series against the West Indies 2-0, let down mostly by its top-order batting, but the omission of Dean Brownlee is the selectors` only response to those failures.
New Zealand squad: Ross Taylor (captain), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Daniel Flynn, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Chris Martin, Brendon McCullum, Tarun Nethula, Jeetan Patel, Tim Southee, Kruger van Wyk, Neil Wagner, B.J. Watling, Kane Williamson.
Agencies
First Published: Tuesday, August 07, 2012, 10:09