Why is Mitchell Santner not playing ENG vs NZ 1st Test?
(Courtesy : BCCI)
Mitchell Santner played for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026.
The 1st test of the three-match series between England and New Zealand is taking place on June 4 at Lord’s in London. New Zealand won the toss and chose to field first.
Ben Stokes & Co. will look to improve their rankings in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 points table. With three wins and six defeats of 10 matches, they are placed seventh in the points table. England suffered a 4-1 defeat against Australia in the Ashes earlier this year.
The Black Caps take the second spot with two victories out of three. They defeated West Indies 2-0 in the three-match series in December last year.
In the ENG vs NZ 1st Test, spin all-rounder Mitchell Santner is absent from New Zealand‘s playing XI. Last month, he played for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League 2026.
Why is Mitchell Santner absent from ENG vs NZ 1st Test?
Notably, Santner is not part of the ENG vs NZ 1st Test. He sustained a shoulder injury while playing for MI in IPL 2026. He was injured while fielding in an encounter. As a result, he was also ruled out of the tournament. He was picked in four games before getting ruled out due to injury.
After opting to bowl first in ENG vs NZ 1st test, New Zealand captain Tom Latham said, “Going to have a bowl. Little bit of weather around, hopefully we can make use with the ball upfront. Looks a reasonably good surface. Saw it three days out and looked reasonably hard. Few changes from our last Test”.
“Phillips back in, Jamieson, Will O’Rourke and Henry – nice to have them all back. Have had a really good couple of weeks preparation coming into this Test. Ready to get into it. If you look at this whole Test match, lot of special moments will be celebrated,” he added.
NZ’s playing XI vs ENG in 1st Test: Tom Latham (C), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, William O’Rourke.
Why is Mitchell Santner not part of the ENG vs NZ 1st Test?
Santner is not part of the match as he is recovering from a shoulder injury.
Who won the toss in the ENG vs NZ 1st Test?
New Zealand won the toss and chose to field first.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.