New Zealand raises concerns over Mitchell’s fitness ahead of the T20 World Series

With the much anticipated cricket tournament fast approaching, New Zealand are left sweating over the fitness of ace all rounder Daryl Mitchell after the 31 year old fractured his finger while batting in the nets. 

Mitchell’s right hand has now been placed in a cast which has to remain for two weeks. Gary Stead, the head coach of the side disclosed that the management will require some time to assess the chances of the all rounder participating in the tournament. The Kiwis are set to fly to Australia on October 15. They will square off against the hosts in their opening game. 

"It's a real shame for Daryl to suffer this injury on the eve of an exciting period of cricket for the side," Stead said. "Daryl's become a really important player to our T20 unit and we're certainly going to miss his all-round skills and versatility in the Tri-Series. With our first game of the World T20 series in just over two weeks we need to take some time to consider Daryl's recovery timeline and his potential involvement in the tournament."

Mitchell has been a regular in the side recently across formats and played a critical role in assisting the black caps reach the final of the 2021 T20 World Series with an unbeaten 72 against England in the semifinal. 

The injury has ruled Mitchell out of the ongoing T20 tri series involving Pakistan and Bangladesh with immediate effect. New Zealand Cricket will soon name a replacement for the star player.  They play their first game of the series against Pakistan on Saturday (October 8).