Delhi: New Zealand has included experienced batsman Henry Nicholls in the team for the second Test match against England to be played at The Oval. This decision has been taken after Kane Williamson retired from international cricket. The team management has expressed confidence in Nicholls on the basis of his excellent performance in domestic cricket.

Rewarded for strong performance in domestic cricket

Henry Nicholls, who was out of the national team for the last few years, had strengthened his claim by consistently batting well in domestic cricket. While playing for Canterbury in the Plunket Shield, he scored the highest runs in 11 innings at an average of 96.66.

New Zealand captain Tom Latham said that Nicholls has regained his place in the team on the basis of his performance and he fully deserves this opportunity.

Return to test team after a long time

Henry Nicholls has played only two Test matches in the last two and a half years.

Both these matches took place on the Zimbabwe tour last year, where he played a brilliant inning of 150 not out in the second test. He has 10 centuries in his name in 58 test matches.

Recently he also took part in the ODI series against Bangladesh in April, where he scored 68, 13 and 4 runs.

Nicholls can play a new role in the batting order

Tom Latham told that Henry Nicholls has mostly been batting at number four and five in his career, but in domestic cricket he has consistently performed well at number three as well.

He said that Nicholls has the ability to adapt himself according to the circumstances and this is a great opportunity for him to take on a new responsibility in Test cricket.

Doubt remains over Matt Henry’s fitness

Before the second Test, the fitness of fast bowler Matt Henry also remains a matter of concern for New Zealand. Due to back spasm on the first day of the Lord’s Test, he was not able to bowl to his full potential. The team management will make a final assessment of his fitness on Tuesday.

New Zealand wants to leave Lord’s defeat behind

New Zealand had to face defeat by 115 runs in the first test.

Tom Latham said that the team has moved on from that defeat. According to him, the team had done many things right at Lord’s, but the circumstances decided the direction of the match. He said that there is no need to change the entire strategy just because of one defeat and the team will enter the second Test with confidence.