New Zealand Hand Maiden International Call-Up To Young Superstar Who Averages 61.73

New Zealand have handed a maiden international call-up to the highly rated young batter Rhys Mariu, who averages 61.73 in first-class cricket and has been long-regarded as the best young batter in the country.

Mariu, in comparison, only averages 27.33 in List A cricket but he’s earned a call-up to the ODI side on the back of Will Young partially withdrawing from the ODIs against Pakistan due to the birth of his child. Young will play the first ODI in Napier on March 29 (Saturday) but he will be replaced by Mariu for the last two games of the series.

Meanwhile, stand-in skipper Tom Latham has been ruled out of the ODI series completely due to a fractured right hand. Michael Bracewell will thus captain the Blackcaps in the ODI series as well. Latham was struck on the hand by a delivery while batting in the nets during training. The left-hander has been replaced by Henry Nicholls in the Blackcaps’ squad.

“We’ve had to be flexible this tour with numerous players unavailable for different reasons,” head coach Gary Stead said.

“What it does do is offer opportunities to others players and it’s nice to introduce Rhys into the environment for the first time, as well as welcome back Henry.

“Henry’s been in good form since returning from his three month injury lay-off and he’ll add valuable skills and experience to the team.

“It’s obviously disappointing to lose Tom as captain on the eve of the series and we wish him a speedy recovery. The side is in safe hands with Michael who’s done a great job through the T20I series.

“Finally we wish Will and his wife Elise all the best next week as they await their first child which is such a special and important time for them.”

New Zealand squad for ODIs vs Pakistan

Henry Nicholls, Mark Chapman, Nick Kelly, Rhys Mariu, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Muhammad Abbas, Nathan Smith, Mitchell Hay, Adithya Ashok, Ben Sears, Jacob Duffy, Will O'Rourke

New Zealand vs Pakistan schedule

1st ODI – Saturday 29 March -  McLean Park, Napier 

2nd ODI – Wednesday 2 April - Seddon Park, Hamilton 

3rd ODI – Saturday 5 April - Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui