Knee injury rules Santner out for nine months

New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner will miss New Zealand’s two-match Test series against England due to a knee injury which begins on March 22.

The 26-year-old will this miss the first-ever day-night Test match in New Zealand.  

Santner will undergo the knife this week on a bone defect in his right knee which is likely to sideline him for 6 to 9 months

The left-arm spinner will now miss the 11^th edition of the Indian Premier League. He was set to join Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings after he was bought for 50 lakhs in the Players Auction in January. It was his first contract in the cash-rich T20 league

He is also set to miss his county stint with Derbyshire.

"On a personal level, everyone feels for Mitchell. He's a popular guy in the changing room and he's well respected for the work he puts in for the side," New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said.

"Mitchell is a key player in all three formats for us, so we'll certainly miss him in the upcoming series. It's important though that he gets this fixed and we have him back for what is a big next 18 months for us."

New Zealand have called in Todd Astle as replacement of Santner. Astle got the nod ahead of Ish Sodhi in the 12-member squad to face England in Auckland.