Colin de Grandhomme to miss the ODI series against Windies

New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme will not feature in the ODI series against Windies following his father’s demise. The three-match ODI series is all set to commence on December 20 in Whangarei. The hosts have comfortably won both the matches of the Test series and have decided to rest some of their key players in the limited overs format. However, de Grandhomme was brilliant during the Tests and hopefully would be back for the T20Is.

The all-rounder returned to Zimbabwe after receiving the unfortunate news about the demise of his father as New Zealand Cricket (NZC) too expressed its disappointment. Windies, on the other hand, is looking to make a comeback after being found wanting in the Test series. Chris Gayle is back in form for them and will join the squad soon as the Kiwis look a little depleted now as their skipper Kane Williamson is also unavailable after the first ODI.

Unsure when he will rejoin the squad

Colin de Grandhomme was supposed to play a crucial role as an all-rounder in the upcoming series as he was also important for them during the tour of India. The selector of NZC Garvin Larsen confirmed the news of him missing the ODI series and also cleared that the thoughts of the board are with him in this difficult situation for his family. “This is obviously extremely sad news for Colin and his family and we’re all thinking of them at the moment. Right now the most important thing is that Colin is with his family,” he was quoted as saying by Radio Sport.

He also didn’t give any indication of his return to cricket which confirmed that it will depend on the 31-year-old cricketer. De Grandhomme was in good form in whites recently and averaged 61.66 as he scored his maiden century in Wellington in the first Test match. He also scalped four wickets in the series thereby performing his job as an all-rounder perfectly.