New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell has been ruled out of the upcoming second Test against South Africa due to a long-term foot injury. Moreover, he will also not be available for the T20I series at home against Australia as it has been deemed he will need more time on the sidelines to get fully fit in time for the crucial Test series against Pat Cummins and his troops.
Mitchell has been a vital member of the Kiwi line-up across all formats and they will be hoping that his foot injury is not serious. He has been managing his injury since last six-seven months but the head coach Gary Stead revealed that this was the best opportunity for the cricketer to recover from the injury completely. "We took the opportunity to rest him a little earlier but after seeking medical advice on this as well it's likely that he needs a longer period of time. It's really tough, because there's not a lot breaks coming up in the next wee while so thought this gives us nearly three weeks to try and give him the chance of the best recuperation from it.
"There's no guarantees this will still work in that period of time but we are very hopeful that it will improve his chances of getting through a longer stint with us," Stead said according to ESPNCricinfo. New Zealand haven't named any replacement in the squad with WIll Young already available as a spare batter. But the hosts are likely to move up Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner in the order to fit in an extra pace bowler in uncapped Will O'Rourke.
"[Will Young] is definitely one of the options. Will's there as back up [and] Glenn Phillips has shown he's more than useful and it could be shaped differently. We are very happy with the squad we have. Daryl's obviously a huge loss, though, he's been instrumental in a number of outstanding batting performances but it's important for him and us that we get this right long term," Stead added.
