Mitchell Santner has been named New Zealand’s new white-ball captain, officially taking over from Kane Williamson, who stepped down after the ICC T20 World Cup in June.
“It’s obviously a great honor and privilege to be asked,” Santner said.
“When you’re young the dream is 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 embark on an important period of white ball cricket ahead of us.”
The 32-year-old will officially begin his full-time captaincy in the upcoming T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka in late December and early January.
“It’s a great honor and privilege.”
Hear from Mitchell Santner on his appointment as the new BLACKCAPS white ball captain 🏏 #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/dxWKij1f5Z
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) December 17, 2024
Sentner said it was an exciting time to lead both sides of the white ball.
“There’s obviously been a changing of the guard with some of our veteran players at the back end of their careers.
“I think it’s exciting for the rest of the group and the younger players to now take on the challenge and push this team forward to further success.”
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said Santner is a perfect fit for the role.
“Mitch is a great team man and leads by example in all aspects of the game,” Stead said.
“He’s an incredibly calm and collected personality and he has a huge amount of respect in the changing room, which will serve him well.
“He has a lot of experience leading a T20 team and did a good job captaining the ODI team last month, so he already has a good understanding of what it means to lead a team.
“I’m sure Mitch will also bring his ideas and leadership style to the role.”
Stead said the decision to hand over the responsibility to Santner for both the ODI and T20I squads was based on the needs of the wider squad.
“In Tom Latham we have a skilled and experienced captain who has led the team admirably across all three formats.
“Tom has been doing a great job as full-time Test captain since taking over in October and we look forward to allowing him to focus on a job that requires considerable time and energy.”
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