Auckland |New Zealand batter Devon Conway has been ruled out of the first ODI against India after suffering a concussion in a training-ground collision with teammate Matt Henry, with Tim Seifert set to replace him, skipper Mitchell Santner said on Tuesday.
New Zealand Cricket later confirmed that Conway had been diagnosed with concussion after being taken to hospital for further examination, ruling him out of the series opener.
"Conway was taken to A&E for further examination, which confirmed a concussion that has ruled him out of the first ODI against India tomorrow," NZC said in a statement.
Conway and Henry collided while attempting an aerial catch during the team's training session at Eden Park ahead of Wednesday's series opener.
Santner confirmed that Henry is doing okay.
"I think Matt went through his concussion thing. He seems okay, but Dev's (Conway) been rushed off-premises. So, yeah, it didn't look too good, actually, that collision," Santner said at the pre-match press conference.
Seifert as replacement
Santner indicated that Seifert, the back-up batter in the squad, would be a direct replacement for Conway.
"Yeah, I guess he's the back-up batter in our squad, so it'll probably be a direct swap if Dev's unavailable, which is a shame," he said.
"He obviously is very good in one-day cricket and was biding his time in the T20 series. And, yeah, I guess it's another one of those freak accidents that happen," Santner added.
The New Zealand skipper said the team was taking the incident seriously, particularly given the nature of the injury.
"It's one of those ones you want to take very seriously, head knocks. We have a backup batter in line just in case. But, yeah, we'll wait and see how he pulls up. It didn't look great, to be fair," he said.
NZC said both players were immediately attended to by medical staff at the ground and underwent head injury assessments. Both will continue to be monitored, with an update on their further involvement in the series to be provided in due course.
India won the recently concluded five-match T20I series 3-2 after New Zealand fought back to claim the last two rubbers