Kiwi spin-bowling all-rounder Mitchell Santner has been appointed as New Zealand's white-ball captain across ODI and T20I formats. He will take over the reins from Kane Williamson following New Zealand's disappointing exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup earlier this year. Santner has previously served as an interim captain for the Black Caps captaining them in 24 T20Is and four ODIs.

However, his first assignment as New Zealand's full-time white-ball skipper will commence against Sri Lanka in late December. The upcoming Champions Trophy in February 2025 followed by the 2026 T20 World Cup will be the two major assignments in his captaincy tenure for New Zealand. 

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Santner expresses delight after assuming captaincy

During a close conversation with the all-rounder, Santner revealed that it had always been his dream to play for New Zealand and represent them on the biggest of stages. He further adds that it is a new challenge and looks forward to the opportunities that lie ahead of him.

"It's obviously a huge honor and a privilege to be asked. When you're a young kid the dream was always to play for New Zealand but to have the opportunity to officially lead my country in two formats is special. It's a new challenge and I'm excited to get stuck into the important period of white-ball cricket that we have ahead of us."

Gary Stead showers his praise on the all-rounder

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead remains confident of Santner's abilities to deliver the goods. He further revealed that Santner was the first-choice selection across both white-ball formats and speaks highly of his calm and collected personality. 

"Mitch is a fantastic team man and leads by example in all facets of the game. He's an incredibly calm and collected personality and he has a huge amount of respect in the changing room, which will serve him well. He's had plenty of experience leading the T20 side and did a good job when he captained the ODI team last month, so he already has a good understanding of what it means to lead the team. I'm sure Mitch will also bring his own ideas and style of leadership to the role."

Despite his strong credentials in limited-overs format, Santner has been exempted from captaincy in the longest format. In Stead's opinion, Tom Latham has been doing a fine job as a full-time Test captain for New Zealand, and under his leadership, New Zealand went on to do the unthinkable by beating India at home by an unbelievable margin of 3-0.