Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner has been appointed as New Zealand’s white-ball captain, taking over the role from Kane Williamson, the country’s cricket body confirmed on Wednesday.
He has represented the Blackcaps in 243 internationals and also led the team in 24 T20Is and four ODIs. He first led the side in a T20I against West Indies at Bay Oval in November 2020 and became New Zealand’s 24th ODI captain when he led the side in the only ODI against Scotland in Edinburgh in 2022.
He will begin his full-time captaincy tenure in a T20 series against Sri Lanka starting in late December, which will be followed by an ODI series in January.
“It’s obviously a huge honour and a privilege to be asked,” Santner said in a statement.
“When you’re a young kid the dream was always to play for New Zealand but to have the opportunity to officially lead my country in two formats is special. It’s a new challenge and I’m excited to get stuck into the important period of white-ball cricket that we have ahead of us,” he added.
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Following the series’ against Sri Lanka, New Zealand will travel for an ODI Tri-Series in Pakistan in February, followed by the ICC Champions Trophy and a home T20I and ODI series against Pakistan to conclude the New Zealand home summer.
“There’s obviously a little bit of a changing of the guard with some of our experienced players at the back end of their careers,” Santner said.
“I think that’s exciting for the remainder of the group and the young players to now take on the challenge and drive this team forward to further success,” he added.