The Wellington pair of Muhammad Abbas and Nick Kelly has earned their maiden call-ups to the New Zealand squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series at home against Pakistan. Kane Williamson wasn't considered for selection after making himself unavailable.
Fast bowler Kyle Jamieson, whose workload is being managed by the selectors, will also miss the ODIs against Pakistan after playing in the Champions Trophy and the T20Is at home against Pakistan earlier this month. Pace-bowling spearhead Matt Henry will continue to remain on the sidelines as he is undergoing rehab for a shoulder and knee issue.
Will O'Rourke, who had returned to the T20I squad for the last two games, will continue to lead the seam attack in the ODIs too, in the absence of seniors. Ben Sears, Jacob Duffy and Nathan Smith will also be part of the seam attack while Auckland legspinner Adithya Ashok has been recalled to the side after having last played for New Zealand in December 2023.
Ashok, 22, has been tipped to become Ish Sodhi's successor in white-ball cricket. In the 50-overs Ford Trophy, Ashok had picked up ten wickets in seven games at an economy rate of under five in Auckland's run to the final. With Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra currently at the IPL, Ashok will form a new-look spin attack along with Michael Bracewell.
Bracewell, who had captained New Zealand in the T20I series against Pakistan, will hand over the reins to Tom Latham for the ODI leg. Mitch Hay, who smashed an unbeaten 86 off 76 balls in the Ford Trophy final for Canterbury, has been selected as the second wicketkeeper.
Kelly will likely open with Will Young in the absence of Ravindra and Devon Conway, who are both with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL. Kelly, 31, has been rewarded for his strong domestic form this season. In the Ford Trophy, he scored 320 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of over 100 and currently tops the four-day Plunket Shield run charts with 749 runs in 14 innings at an average of nearly 58, including four centuries.
Kelly also has some white-ball exposure outside of New Zealand, having played for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in CPL 2020.
As for Abbas, the 21-year-old is among the most talented all-format batters in domestic cricket in New Zealand. Abbas is the son of former Pakistani seamer Azhar Abbas, who had also played for Wellington and Auckland after moving to New Zealand with his family. Abbas Sr is currently Wellington's assistant coach.
Abbas grew up in Auckland and was in contention to play for New Zealand in the 2022 Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean, but New Zealand eventually withdrew from that tournament owing to "extensive mandatory quarantine restrictions for minors on their return home."
More recently in February, Abbas made his maiden List A century against Central Districts in New Plymouth. Abbas can also bowl left-arm seam and add depth to the attack.
Sam Wells, the New Zealand selection manager, saw the upcoming series against Pakistan as an opportunity to test out the fringe players.
"With the next ICC ODI pinnacle event still two and half years away, the series is a perfect opportunity to introduce, or re-introduce in the case of Adi, these players to international cricket now," Wells said. "Nick has been the standout domestic batsman the last few seasons. He is a dynamic strokemaker with power, and he can bat anywhere in the top six.
"Mo is one of our most promising young batters and he also provides a sixth bowling option which is required in the absence of Rachin [Ravindra] and Glenn [Phillips]."
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead is looking forward to working with Kelly and Abbas. "He's been a very, very strong domestic player for the last couple of years and I think fully deserves his spot in the team. He'll bat at the top of the order. We're excited to see what he might bring," Stead said of Kelly. "Overall, we're looking to build the depth of our players, and this tour augurs well for us in that regard to be able to do so. Mo Abbas, he's a younger player. Very, very exciting."
"I think a real, real talent, especially in playing spin bowling. I guess his ability to bowl a little bit of left-arm seam as well is really helpful in terms of us trying to build our depth of allrounders. With the ODI World Cup being two and a half years away in South Africa, it's a nice opportunity for us to blood some new players and see their credentials as well."
"They've obviously been in great touch. They've been selected to get an opportunity in this group. It's going to be exciting to see them go about their business," New Zealand batting coach Luke Ronchi said about the new faces. "It's doing the stuff they have done so well to get to here - just going out there and enjoying the moment of playing with a BlackCaps cap on and the group around them, and enjoying the whole experience. There will be some nerves and things, but hopefully they can play the game the way they have done to get to this stage and really enjoy the experience."
While Stead will lead the New Zealand support staff, alongside batting coach Ronchi, regular bowling coach Jacob Oram will take a break. Graeme Aldridge, the NZC development coach, will fill in for Oram.
This will be New Zealand's first ODI assignment since they made the final of the Champions Trophy. As the Black Caps begin their prep for the 2027 ODI World Cup, players with national and domestic contracts were prioritised for selection. As a result, Jimmy Neesham, Finn Allen and Tim Seifert were not picked though they are all back in the T20I set-up.
New Zealand ODI squad
Tom Latham (capt, wk), Muhammad Abbas, Adithya Ashok, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Mitch Hay (wk), Nick Kelly, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Will Young