Injured Martin Guptill out of New Zealand’s tour of the UAE

The opener Martin Guptill will play no role in New Zealand‘s tour of the UAE to play Pakistan after straining his calf playing domestic cricket.

The 32-year-old was a doubt for the tour after suffering a left calf strain and New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen told reporters on Friday that Guptill was forced to be sat out of the ODI and T20I squads keeping in mind the workload ahead of a busy home summer featuring visits from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Add Cricket Country as a Preferred Source

“Unfortunately for Martin it will take him some time to get over this injury and, with a long summer ahead, we need to make sure we minimise the risk of him repeating it,” he said, adding that the selectors had not yet decided on a replacement.

“It’s extremely frustrating to pick this up after tracking so well with how my hamstring was going… it’s gutting and I wish I was out there,” said Guptill.

New Zealand’s itinerary in the UAE features three T20Is, three ODI and three Tests versus Pakistan from October 21.