Calf injury sidelines Black Caps pace bowler Lockie Ferguson ahead of T20 World Cup
Wednesday, 24 December 2025
Another injury setback for Black Caps pace bowler Lockie Ferguson has cast a shadow over the World Cup squad.
A T20 squad to face hosts India next month - along with a white-ball group to play three ODIs prior - was named on Wednesday morning.
Ferguson hasn’t been included after injuring a calf muscle while bowling for the Desert Vipers against the MI Emirates in the ILT20 competition in Dubai at the weekend.
Black Caps coach Rob Walter said the extent of Ferguson’s injury wasn’t known on Tuesday.
“Obviously that will dictate what time frames look like, so it’d be too early to comment on that.”
The 34-year-old hasn’t played for the Black Caps since November 2024. He missed the Champions Trophy ODI tournament early this year with a foot injury, while a hamstring problem had kept him out of white-ball internationals over recent months.
The T20 World Cup starts in India and Sri Lanka in early February, with the three ODIs and five T20Is against India in next month giving the Black Caps an excellent warm-up to the tournament.
The 15-man squad for the T20Is versus India between January 22 and February 1 doesn’t include openers Tim Seifert and Finn Allen, who are playing in the Big Bash League in Australia, with the final of that tournament scheduled for January 25.
Also absent from the squad is pace bowler Adam Milne, who will be playing for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape franchise in the SA20 competition which begins on Saturday and runs for a month.
The Black Caps squad for the World Cup is likely to be named on January 15.
Mitchell Santner will captain the T20 squad in the five games in India, but won’t be part of the ODI series prior, after a groin injury forced him to miss the just-completed three-test series versus the West Indies.
Michael Bracewell will captain the ODI squad, which will be without Rachin Ravindra and Jacob Duffy after that duo played a swag of matches for the national side before Christmas in all formats, while regular ODI wicketkeeper-batter Tom Latham and his wife are expecting their second child.
“I think our biggest challenge will really be managing energy levels, going into the World Cup, given everyone's already played a fair bit of cricket and will be playing a lot of cricket,” Walter said.
“But if you speak to the players, there's no doubt there's a hunger to be better at this World Cup.
“I think everyone was really disappointed with how the last World Cup ran, all factors considered, so there's a definite push to make sure that we're better prepared both mentally and physically - and some of it is freshness, and the other part is just being ready and used to conditions.”
Veteran pace bowler Michael Rae, who made his test debut in the 2-0 series win over the West Indies, is in line for a first international appearance in ODIs, along with fellow seamer Kristian Clarke, who was close to making his test debut in Mt Maunganui.
Spinners Adi Ashok and Jayden Lennox have been included in the ODI squad, along with allrounder Josh Clarkson, while Mitch Hay is likely to take over the keeping duties.
Black Caps T20 squad for India
Mitchell Santner (captain), Devon Conway (wk), Tim Robinson, Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, James Neesham, Michael Bracewell, Kyle Jamieson, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy.
Black Caps ODI squad for India
Michael Bracewell (captain), Devon Conway, Will Young, Nick Kelly, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitch Hay (wk), Josh Clarkson, Kyle Jamieson, Zak Foulkes, Kristian Clarke, Adi Ashok, Jayden Lennox, Michael Rae.