Champions Trophy 2025: Santner to take on the leadership duties, know full squad

Ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner opened up on his side which will feature in the marquee event starting from February 19As the Black Caps announced their squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 several fresh faces have emerged in the pace attackNew Zealand will kick start their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against Pakistan on February 19If there is a little bit of turn we can have Bracewell bat at No 7 and I can go at No 8 We have options which is great for our squad Weve got raw pace weve got the spin and the allrounders as well Santner said as quoted by ESPNcricinfoFurther the Kiwi allrounder heaped praise on the spinners of the side especially the offspinner Glenn PhillipsTheyre both very good offspinners in their own right Theyre both different I think On a wicket like that Bracewell can get a bit more bounce a little more over the top Even the three overs that GP bowled were good for us and Glenn has worked a lot on his bowling as weve seen in the longer format the leftarm spinner addedAlso ReadPunjab Kings announce Shreyas Iyer as skipper for IPL 2025In the end the Blackcaps player said that if the management and team are happy with the playing XI then the same team will play in Karachi Rawalpindi and against India in DubaiWe like to stick to the same team once weve picked it but thats conditionsdependent Karachi could play a lot different to Rawalpindi which could play differently to Dubai With the short nature of the tournament if youre happy with your XI you want them to perform for all three games But were open to changes the 32yearold concludedFor Mitchell Santner the Champions Trophy 2025 will be the first major ICC tournament after successfully registering victories in the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka at homeThe likes of William ORourke Ben Sears and Nathan Smith will feature in their maiden senior ICC eventMitchell Santner will be shouldered by other spinners such as Michael Bracewell Glenn Phillips and Rachin RavindraSenior figures Kane Williamson and Tom Latham lend valuable experience to the side with Latham set to take the wicketkeeping gloves for the tournamentSantner Williamson and Latham were all part of New Zealands squad for the previous edition of the Champions Trophy in England and Wales in 2017 Williamson also featured at the 2013 edition in EnglandMatt Henry will spearhead the pace bowling attack alongside veteran Lockie Ferguson who is set to play his fifth ICC event having played a key role in the last two ICC ODI and T20I World CupsJacob Duffy could also feature in the squad he is named as a reserve player should Lockie Ferguson become unavailable because of franchise cricket commitmentsAfter their Champions Trophy 2025 opener against Pakistan the Kiwis will lock horns with Bangladesh and India on February 24 and March 2 respectivelyNew Zealand squad for Champions Trophy 2025 Mitchell Santner c Michael Bracewell Mark Chapman Devon Conway Lockie Ferguson Matt Henry Tom Latham Daryl Mitchell Will ORourke Glenn Phillips Rachin Ravindra Ben Sears Nathan Smith Kane Williamson Will YoungWith ANI Inputs