Auckland, 01 May (H.S.):

New Zealand white-ball captain Mitchell Santner has been ruled out of cricket for at least one month after sustaining a serious shoulder injury. Following a specialist assessment, he has been advised to undergo at least a month of rest and rehabilitation.

According to New Zealand Cricket, scans have confirmed a grade-three AC joint injury in his left shoulder. The 34-year-old Santner recently returned to New Zealand after coming back from IPL 2026, where he was part of the Mumbai Indians squad. Santner picked up the injury while fielding during the match against Chennai Super Kings on April 23. He bowled his full quota of overs in that game and took one wicket, but did not come out to bat. Shardul Thakur was sent in as his replacement.

As a result of the injury, Santner will be unavailable for the one-off Test against Ireland at the end of May and the first Test against England at Lord’s in early June. A decision on his return for the second and third Tests will be taken later.

IPL and recent form

Mumbai Indians bought Santner for Rs 2 crore ahead of IPL 2025 and retained him for the current season as well. In IPL 2025, he took 10 wickets in 13 matches. He also recently helped New Zealand reach the final of the T20 World Cup, where the team lost to India. In that tournament, he scored 120 runs and also claimed two wickets.

Although Santner is expected to miss the May-June Test assignments, he could return to lead New Zealand in the ODI and T20I series against West Indies during the July tour.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar