Kane Williamson returns to lead New Zealand in T20I series against Bangladesh

Napier: Kane Williamson returns as New Zealand captain for the T20Is against Bangladesh, beginning December 27.

Williamson will be playing the format after a gap of more than a year, having last participated in the home T20I series against India last November.

Williamson was missing from cricketing action for most of this year after suffering a knee injury in the IPL 2023 and was back at international cricket only during the Men's ODI World Cup.

New Zealand will be without some regulars with Michael Bracewell (achilles), Lockie Ferguson (achilles), Matt Henry (hamstring) and Henry Shipley (back) recovering from injuries, an ICC report on Sunday said.

While Trent Boult has made himself unavailable for selection and Devon Conway has been rested as a part of the team's workload management.

Along with Williamson, Jimmy Neesham also comes back to the squad after opting out of the Black Caps' previous T20I series for the birth of his child. 25-year-old fast bowler Ben Sears, who was recently drafted in the ODI squad as a cover for Kyle Jamieson, has also been included.

"It's great to be able to finish off a busy year that started on the road by having the group together in New Zealand," head coach Gary Stead said. "We've played T20 cricket in a wide variety of conditions this year and it's been great to see a broad range of players making contributions."

"Tim Seifert, as an example, returned to the side in a specific role at the top of the order and made significant contributions in each series he was part of. With a World Cup in the middle of next year, we're well into our planning in terms of both the tournament and the type of squad we might need in the conditions," he said.

"While we're advanced in our planning, as we saw with the one-day World Cup squad this year with the likes of Mark Chapman and Rachin Ravindra - there is certainly still time for players to come into that mix," Stead added.

The three-match T20I series takes place between December 27 and 31.

T20I squad: Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee. (UNI)