New Zealand have been depleted by a litany of injuries and are carefully managing their players ahead of India Tests and Australia tour

Deivarayan Muthu

Published: Nov 12, 2026, 2:07 PM (3 hrs ago)

New Zealand have been depleted by a litany of injuries during their ongoing home season and are carefully managing their players, with a four-match Test tour of Australia on the horizon. Here's a list of New Zealand internationals who are currently injured or managing their injuries.

Rachin Ravindra is recovering from a freak shoulder injury he suffered during a promotional shoot in the lead-up to the T20I series against India. The original aim was to have the allrounder back in action for the ODI series, but his return to play was pushed back, considering the threat involved while fielding and diving in one-day cricket. Ravindra is poised to return to action in the Test series and lead New Zealand's batting line-up following Kane Williamson's retirement.

Devon Conway was sidelined from the ODI series with concussion following a collision with Matt Henry during training on the eve of the first ODI in Auckland. Conway is aiming to be fit in time for the first Test against India, which begins at his hometown Wellington on November 19. Conway has not played any competitive cricket since his stint with Belfast Wolves in the European T20 Premier League (ETPL).

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After the collision with Conway, Matt Henry has been cleared to return to action and will aim to play the fourth ODI in Mount Maunganui on November 13. Prior to the most recent training injury, Henry had suffered a quad injury, which is fine now.

"Been a little unlucky," Henry said. "Thankfully progressing well with the head, it's been a little frustrating pushing things back. But the main thing is we've still got plenty of cricket to play. [The quad] is nothing too major and just being smart about that with a lot of cricket coming.

"We will play it as we see [on whether he will play both Tests against India before four Tests against Australia]. We've got a lot of bowlers and depth, so managing the workload is always going to be a challenge with so much cricket to be played and it's a moving thing."

Will O'Rourke will miss the home series against India as he continues his rehab following injuries to his left hamstring and calf. Given his injury history, O'Rourke is resting as a precaution, and New Zealand hope to have him back for the Australia trip. The tall fast bowler will likely test his body in four-day Plunket Shield before he travels to Australia.

"Everything is on track for his plan to roll out as we had hoped and liked," New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said last week. "And that's obviously to be part of the Plunket Shield game before the Aussie series. So, everything is tracking well there again and he's working incredibly hard."

After hurting his right hip flexor during a Canterbury training session, Zak Foulkes has been sidelined from the entire all-format series against India. His return to play is yet to be determined.

"Foulkes' injury was a niggly one because it's one that you don't see very often," Walter said. "But he's making good progress but you still have to be fairly careful with that injury. He's started to pick up some nice momentum recently."

Currently recovering from an ankle injury, Ben Sears has not played for New Zealand since the UK tour in June. He has been sidelined from the ODI series in the Caribbean and the home series against India.

"That ankle had a lot going on and early progress was slow, but he's making nice progress now," Walter said. "He was scheduled to have his first run recently and hopefully get into some level-one bowling soon."

Blair Tickner has been cleared of concussion after copping a blow on his helmet while batting during the second ODI in Wellington on November 7. But he is required to follow the ICC's mandatory stand-down period of seven days from the date of the match before returning to international cricket. The seamer has been named in New Zealand's squad for the two-match Test series against India.

After experiencing pain in his calf during the second T20I in Christchurch, Lockie Ferguson was ruled out of the rest of the T20I series. He was looking to return to action in the ODI series that followed, but did not recover in time. Ferguson's next major assignment is the Big Bash League (BBL) with Sydney Thunder in December-January.

A quadricep injury limited Tom Blundell's participation to just one round for the one-day Ford Trophy for Wellington, but the wicketkeeper-batter is targeting a return for the first Test against India.

Legspinner Ish Sodhi also finds himself on the sidelines, with a "high grade" ACL injury sustained during warm-ups. He has not played for the Black Caps or Canterbury since May this year.

"It's trying to understand what his recovery period might look like and that's not clear just yet," Walter said. "But obviously when it comes to those types of injuries, it could be a significant delay or time in recovery. So obviously we're hoping for the best with Ish. I know he'd worked incredibly hard in this pre-season to get ready for the season and push his case."

A hamstring injury had put Mark Chapman out of the T20I and ODI series against India. He has not played competitive cricket since his ETPL stint with Wolves and will look to get fit in time for his BBL gig with Adelaide Strikers.

Deivarayan Muthu is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo