Auckland: New Zealand’s injury crisis ahead of the ODI series against India has deepened into a triple blow, with opener Devon Conway ruled out of the first match at Eden Park on Wednesday after suffering a concussion in a freak training-ground collision with teammate Matt Henry.
Conway and Henry collided while attempting a catch during New Zealand’s training session at Eden Park on Tuesday. Both players were treated immediately by medical staff on the ground and underwent head injury assessments. Conway was then taken to hospital for further examination, which confirmed a concussion and ended his involvement in the Auckland opener.
“Devon Conway and Matt Henry collided while attempting a catch during the BLACKCAPS training today at Eden Park. Both players were immediately treated by medical staff on-site and received Head Injury Assessments,” New Zealand Cricket said in a statement. “Conway was taken to A&E for further examination, which confirmed a concussion that has ruled him out of the first ODI against India tomorrow. Both players will continue to be monitored and their involvement in the ODI series against India will be updated in due course.”
Captain Mitchell Santner confirmed that Henry, who had already missed the last three T20Is against India with a low-grade tear in his right quadriceps, had come through his concussion assessments and was hopeful of playing on Wednesday, though his condition will keep being monitored. For Conway, Santner was blunt about how worrying the collision had looked. “I think Matt went through his concussion thing. He seems okay, but Dev’s been rushed off-premises,” he said.
Tim Seifert, the back-up batter in the squad, will replace Conway directly in the opener. Seifert was already set for a bigger role in this series than originally planned: he had been selected only for the fourth and fifth ODIs, but will now be available for all five matches after the earlier injury news.
That earlier news is what makes this a triple blow rather than a single setback. Rachin Ravindra is out of the whole series with a right shoulder injury that has not recovered enough for him to field at full capacity, with the two-Test series later in November also in mind. Mark Chapman is out too, after a recent MRI showed his left hamstring needs another two weeks of rehabilitation. Henry Nicholls has joined the squad for the first three matches and Dean Foxcroft for the last two, but no reshuffle can fully replace three first-choice batters on the eve of a series.
India, by contrast, arrive in Auckland with a settled top four confirmed by captain Shubman Gill — Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer — after winning the preceding T20I series 3-2. The five-match ODI series opens at Eden Park on November 4, with the second ODI in Wellington on November 7. Conway’s availability beyond the opener is not yet confirmed; New Zealand Cricket has said only that he will continue to be monitored.
