“Jimmy Neesham’s injury will rule him out of at least this Test”

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New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham will miss the second Test against India as he has yet to sufficiently recover from a rib injury.

Neesham, who did not feature in the first Test, suffered the injury after he was struck while batting in the nets in Delhi prior to the start of the series.

“Jimmy Neesham’s injury will rule him out of at least this Test,” New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson said. “That takes away options in terms of changing our balance a bit. But that’s okay. We are not able to get any replacement in time who is a batting allrounder. Unfortunately, we have got a few other injuries at home as well, which makes that really challenging.”

To make matters worse, Jeetan Patel’s flight to India was cancelled and he will only arrive after in the early hours of Thursday, which gives him just over 24 hours to get himself accustomed to the conditions. Patel was called up a replacement for spinner Mark Craig, who will be sidelined for the rest of the series after suffering a side strain.

Meanwhile, Hesson revealed that he is considering bringing Henry Nicholls in for opener Martin Guptill as he has struggled with the bat as of late.

“We are restricted in some of our options,” Hesson said. “We have got Henry Nicholls in our group. Once again he has never played in India but played really nicely in South Africa in conditions that once again are distinctly different. He is a smart lad. He spent the last week trying to keep evolving his game plan. He is an option for us. And we will look at the conditions first before making a call.”