New Zealand have added 23-year-old Mumbai Indians (MI) talent Bevon Jacobs into the Test side ahead of the upcoming ZIM vs NZ 2nd Test, slated to start from August 7. The INR 30 lakh MI recruit for IPL 2025 recently made his national debut in the T20I tri series comprising Zimbabwe and South Africa and could now be in line for a potential red-ball debut too after getting his maiden Test call-up. The development comes after Blackcaps red-ball skipper Tom Latham was ruled out of the match due to a shoulder injury.
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Notably, Latham was forced to miss the opening Test of the two-match series too but was expected to regain fitness in time for the second match. However, that won’t be the case. In his absence, another Mumbai Indians star, Mitchell Santner who stepped in as captain in the first game is expected to continue in the role.
Speaking about his first-class stats, the South Africa-born Kiwi cricketer has close to 500 runs in five games at an impressive average of 56.86 including a century and three fifties. He also made a promising debut for NZ in the T20I tri-series slamming a fiery unbeaten 44*.
Jacobs is gradually also becoming a hot commodity in franchise cricket and recently earned a CPL contract too with Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, after securing IPL and ILT20 deals (MI Emirates). Overall, he has played 23 T20s and has scored 467 runs at an average of 33.35 and a strike-rate of 147.31.
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Apart from Tom Latham, the Kiwis are riddled with multiple other injuries to fast bowlers Nathan Smith and Will O’Rourke. Fast-bowling allrounder Nathan Smith too was ruled out of the second Test against Zimbabwe couple of days earlier due to an abdominal strain. He has subsequently been replaced by Zakary Foulkes, who also got his maiden call-up into the Test squad.
During the opening Test match against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, Smith suffered an abdominal injury while batting on the second day. MRI later revealed a muscle strain, with an expected recovery period of two to four weeks.
Earlier today, Will O’Rourke also ruled out with back stiffness and has returned home to undergo further assessment.
Back-up pacer Ben Lister, who was initially added as cover will remain with the squad in Zimbabwe and will be another name in contention to win a Test debut in the series finale.
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