New Zealand name 16-player T20I squad for India; Milne returns

New Zealand have announced a 16-member squad for the five-match T20I series against India, with white-ball captain Mitchell Santner leading the first BLACKCAPS squad of the home summer.

The series begins on 22 October at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, and will be played across four cities over 11 days. It forms part of India’s 12-match tour of New Zealand, which also includes five ODIs and two Tests; New Zealand Cricket says more than 76,000 tickets have already been sold one month out.

Pacer Adam Milne, 34, returns after missing the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup through injury. With 243 T20 matches including 56 internationals, he last played for the Blackcaps against Zimbabwe more than a year ago. He joins a pace attack featuring Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Jacob Duffy, alongside young pacers Zak Foulkes and Nathan Smith. Spin all-rounder Michael Bracewell also returns after missing the tournament through injury.

Thirteen players from the squad that finished runners-up to India at the T20 World Cup earlier this year are retained, and openers Tim Seifert and Finn Allen are reunited at the top of the order. Batting all-rounder Rachin Ravindra misses out after dislocating his right shoulder in a promotional shoot last week; his rehabilitation is expected to take around six weeks, targeting the ODI series beginning 4 November at Eden Park, Auckland.

Sources

• The Economic Times (ANI): https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/cricket/ind-vs-nz-new-zealand-announce-16-member-t20i-squad-for-india-series-santner-to-lead/articleshow/134423564.cms
• The News Mill: https://thenewsmill.com/2026/09/new-zealand-name-16-player-t20i-squad-with-santner-as-captain-for-india-series/
• Asianet Newsable: https://newsable.asianetnews.com/sports/new-zealand-announces-16-man-squad-for-t20i-series-against-india-articleshow-cz8bg0l