Santner, Ravindra return for England T20Is

Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra have returned to the New Zealand squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against England, beginning in Christchurch on Saturday (October 18). While Santner will resume leadership duties after recovering from abdominal surgery, Ravindra is back from the facial injury that kept him out of the recent series against Australia.

Squad: Mitchell Santner (C), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Tim Seifert (wk)

Ben Sears, who suffered a left-hamstring injury during training last week, will miss the series. As will Kane Williamson, but he is expected to be available for the three-match ODI series that follows.

"Kane had to overcome a minor medical issue in the past month, and we agreed he needs some more time to get himself physically ready to return," head coach Rob Walter said. "He's obviously a world class player and we're hoping these two weeks will ensure he's ready for the ODIs against England and the following tour by West Indies."

New Zealand have retained much of the squad that faced Australia, with Jimmy Neesham keeping his place after a strong showing as Ravindra's replacement in that series. Ish Sodhi, though, has been dropped.

Finn Allen (foot), Adam Milne (ankle), Will O'Rourke (back), Glenn Phillips (groin) and Lockie Ferguson (hamstring) were all