Star Kiwi pacer pulls out of India, Pakistan tours due to lack of preparation

Ace New Zealand seamer Adam Milne has pulled himself out of white-ball tours of India and Pakistan due to lack of preparation. Having last appeared in the home series against India following the World T20 in Australia, Milne ended up feeling uneasiness in his hamstring that saw him miss a couple of Ford Trophy matches for Wellington Fireworks in December as well.

Though he appeared in the first two games of the Dream11 Super Smash season, Milne doesn’t feel right about playing six ODIs in the span of 16 days during the subcontinent leg.

After a mutual agreement, it was decided that Milne will withdraw his name from the upcoming white-ball series, and Blair Tickner - who is currently in Pakistan with the Test team, will replace him.

Speaking at length on a decision that wasn’t easy to take, New Zealand’s selector Gavin Larsen said,

Adam was very up front with us about his concerns around the lack of one-day bowling loading for the upcoming tours,” Larsen said in a New Zealand Cricket statement.

“After chatting to him, we agreed his preparation leading into the tour wouldn't be sufficient for him to cope with the demands of back-to-back, three-game ODI series. We appreciate his honesty and his genuine desire not to let the team down,” Larsen added.

Talking about Milne’s replacement Tickner, who has played six ODIs so far, Larsen said Blair is someone who call bowl well in the middle overs, and with his ability to hit the deck hard, it makes him a similar prospect to that of Milne.

“Blair's skills at bowling through the middle and his ability to hit the pitch hard make him a similar prospect to what Adam offered us. The fact he's already in Pakistan experiencing the conditions is an added bonus,” Larsen said.

While the ODI series against New Zealand will begin on January 9th, India’s white-ball tour will kick-start on January 18th.