Santner has taken over the captaincy from Kane Williamson, the star batter who stepped down from the position following the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 held in June.
The 32-year-old left-arm spinner has prior experience leading New Zealand, having captained the side in 24 T20Is and four ODIs. However, his first series as the full-time captain will be against Sri Lanka, scheduled for late December.
“It’s a huge honor and a privilege to be asked,” Santner said. “When you’re a young kid the dream was always to play for New Zealand but to have the opportunity to officially lead my country in two formats is special.
“It’s a new challenge and I’m excited to get stuck into the important period of white-ball cricket that we have ahead of us.”
New Zealand’s head coach Gary Stead has elaborated on the decision not to appoint Tom Latham as white-ball captain.
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Stead emphasized that the main factor influencing this decision was Latham’s current workload, suggesting that balancing captaincy of both red-ball and white-ball teams would have been challenging for the player.
“In Tom Latham, we have an accomplished and experienced captain who has led the side admirably across all three formats,” Stead said.
“Tom’s doing a great job as full-time Test captain since taking over in October and we’re keen to allow him to focus on that job which requires a considerable amount of time and energy.”
“Mitch is a fantastic team man and leads by example in all facets of the game. He’s an incredibly calm and collected personality and he has a huge amount of respect in the changing room, which will serve him well.
“He’s had plenty of experience leading the T20 side and did a good job when he captained the ODI team last month, so he already has a good understanding of what it means to lead the team.
“I’m sure Mitch will also bring his ideas and style of leadership to the role.”
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