New Zealand Pacer Will O'Rourke Ruled Out of India Home Series With Hamstring and Calf Injuries

[Nishant]

New Zealand fast bowler Will O'Rourke will miss the entire home series against India as he continues to rehabilitate injuries to his left hamstring and calf, New Zealand Cricket confirmed on Saturday. Precautionary call The 25-year-old tore his hamstring on the final day of New Zealand's third Test against England in June — a series the hosts won — and then strained his calf in a training session in late August. NZC said the decision was taken in consultation with O'Rourke and the medical team, describing the approach as conservative. O'Rourke had been slated to feature in both the ODI and Test legs of the India tour. New Zealand coach Rob Walter said it was disappointing for O'Rourke to miss a marquee home tour against India, adding that the team wanted to ensure he was fully fit before taking the field again. The injury layoff follows an earlier setback for the pacer, who returned to international cricket earlier this year after a back stress fracture kept him out for seven months. Series context India's tour of New Zealand comprises five T20 internationals, five one-day internationals and two Tests, opening with a T20I in Christchurch on October 22. O'Rourke is the third injury casualty for the Black Caps in the space of a day: Mark Chapman and Zak Foulkes were already ruled out of the T20I leg on Friday. The pacer's sights are now set on turning out for Canterbury in the Plunket Shield in late December and, ideally, the opening Test of New Zealand's four-Test tour of Australia in Perth on December 9. Sources: Reuters: New Zealand's O'Rourke Ruled Out of India Series The Economic Times: New Zealand Pacer Will O'Rourke Ruled Out of India Series