Black Caps axe Neesham, Broom for India tour

WELLINGTON: New Zealand on Monday dropped allrounder Jimmy Neesham and batsman Neil Broom from the one-day squad to tour India next month.

Coach Mike Hesson named a core group of nine players for the tour, with a further six to be selected from the New Zealand A side currently in India.Neesham and Broom both missed out after failing to fire at the ICC Champions Trophy in June.

Hesson said Broom had been effective batting at three or four but it was an area in which New Zealand already had a lot of depth.“We’d like to see Neil develop his game further to show he has the skills to bat at five,” he said.

Neesham has scored only one half century in 11 One-day Internationals this year and his 10 ODI outings with the ball over the same period yielded only four wickets.

“Jimmy needs go back and really dominate domestic cricket with both bat and ball,” Hesson said.“We know Jimmy is a talented player, but we’ve spoken with him around improving the consistency in all areas of his game.”

New Zealand play the first of three one-dayers against India in Mumbai on October 22.The nine players named by Hesson were: Kane Williamson (capt), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Adam Milne, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.