Ish Sodhi, Glenn Phillips back in New Zealand Test squad for Pakistan tour

The Black Caps on Thursday announced the squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Pakistan, to be played in Karachi and Multan.

New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi is returning to the 15-member Test squad for the Pakistan tour after four years since he last played in whites. Besides Sodhi, one-time Test player Glenn Phillips has also been recalled to the Test squad while uncapped Blair Tickner will debut in the series, starting December 26.

Meanwhile, Tim Southee will lead the Test squad for the first time as skipper following Kane Williamson's announcement to retire as the Kiwis' captain in red-ball cricket.

Sodhi, 30 — who recently became the fifth male player in the world to claim 100 T20I wickets — has featured in 125 white-ball games for his side and has been a key player in the T20 format.

Though the spinner hasn't been playing red-ball cricket lately, he has a strong first-class record featuring 279 wickets at an average of 33, with 16 five-wicket bags and two ten-wicket hauls in the longest format.

Meanwhile, the only Test Phillips played was against Australia at the SCG in January 2020, when he scored a half-century in the first innings.

Tickner featured in the Kiwis Test squads in series against South Africa and England, but is yet to be capped.

Meanwhile, Trent Boult has been excluded from the squad after he made himself unavailable for the tour. Kyle Jamieson has also not been included in the squad as he is recovering from a back injury.

The New Zealand coach said his team was looking forward to the prospect of playing Test cricket in Pakistan for the first time since 2003.

The squad for the one-day series will be named on December 19.

Test squad for Pakistan

Tim Southee (captain), Michael Bracewell, Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson and Will Young.