Ravindra earns World Cup call, Milne and Allen miss out

Pace bowler Adam Milne and top-order batter Finn Allen have missed out on New Zealand's provisional squad for the ODI World Cup with allrounder Rachin Ravindra earning a spot as an additional spin option.

Kane Williamson's inclusion was announced last week although it still remains uncertain whether he will be ready for the opening match against England on October 5 as he continues through the final stages of recovery from his ACL injury. Should Williamson not be available for certain games, Tom Latham would continue as captain.

Williamson, along with Tim Southee, will be playing in their fourth ODI World Cup having featured in 2011, 2015 and 2019.

As was hinted by his omission for the first ODI against England, Allen does not make the cut. Allen did play in Southampton on Sunday in a rain-shortened game but picked up a second-ball duck. Devon Conway and Will Young are set to be New Zealand's openers at the World Cup.

"We had to make a decision, ultimately, for the opening batting position and it came down Finn and Will Young," New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. "And we just felt that when we looked through what the potential gameplan was looking like in India, looked at the grounds, and also looked at the form of the two players as well that Youngy was the right guy to go with.

"We know the value Will brings and have been really pleased with the way he's played in the last couple of games without going on to get a big one but it certainly looks encouraging."

Jimmy Neesham, who was at the crease for the Super Over in the 2019 final, is retained while Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry make up the specialist quicks. Mitch Santner and Ish Sodhi are the frontline spinners supplemented by Ravindra who only made his ODI debut earlier this year.

Stead added that the ACL injury suffered by Michael Bracewell earlier this year and meant required a further assessment of the all-round options available which led the selectors to Neesham and Ravindra, while Mark Chapman and Glenn Phillips could also play a role with the ball.

Milne played at the 2015 World Cup and returned to the ODI side in 2022 after further battles with injury but has played just five matches in the format since 2017. He was ruled out of the ongoing England series with a hamstring injury.

Kyle Jamieson, who has enjoyed the majority of his international success at Test level, also missed out having recently returned to action after a back injury.

As with any squad named for an ICC tournament, there have been some tough calls and there will be some disappointed players," Stead said. "The key for us was finding the right balance for the squad and making sure we had our bases covered for what is going to be a very competitive tournament."

Meanwhile, Sodhi, who has changed his run-up this year, said it almost "feels like a debut in a different way."

"It [my style of action] was designed for Asian conditions," he said. "I was trying to be a little bit quicker through the crease and potentially bowl a little bit faster as well. And I was fortunate to have some success in Pakistan. Just subcontinent conditions, but quite different to India.

And it's something that I've been learning over the last year or so and you know, having bowling experience since I was 12. But now learning to do it in a completely different way and having a different mindset, that's pretty exciting for me."

New Zealand ODI World Cup squad: Kane Williamson (capt), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young