Wellington [New Zealand], May 1 : New Zealand white-ball captain Mitchell Santner will be sidelined for at least a month following a grade three ACL injury in his left shoulder, as confirmed by the latest scans.

The 34-year-old spin bowling all-rounder, a crucial cog of the NZ Test line-up, suffered the injury while fielding in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Mumbai Indians (MI), and the franchise had to rope in South African spinner Keshav Maharaj as his replacement. Santner returned to New Zealand earlier this week and, following a specialist consultation, has been advised to take rest and undergo rehab, as per ICC.

After the IPL, NZ will take on Ireland in a one-off, four-day Test on May 27, followed by a high-stakes three-Test ICC World Test Championship (WTC) series against England kickstarting at Lord's from June 4. Santner will be missing both the Ireland Test and the Lord's Test, and a call on his participation in the remainder of the series will be made later.

Santner's excellence will be both bat and ball, and his ability to manage a crisis makes this a massive blow for the Kiwis. Under his leadership, Santner has been a fine limited-overs unit under transition, having made it to the finals of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup earlier this year, as well as the ICC Men's Champions Trophy held last year in Pakistan and Dubai.

Kiwis are currently placed second in the WTC standings, with two wins and a draw, with Australia sitting at the top. This year, Kiwis will be aiming to play some of their best Test cricket to book the WTC final next year for the second time, with an eye on another title.

New Zealand's next limited-overs assignment is a tour of the West Indies starting in July, featuring both ODIs and T20Is, before they return home for a marquee three-format series against India beginning in October. The final squad for the Ireland and England Tests is expected to be announced in the coming days, with the Kiwis now left with a problem of making a massive adjustment following Santner's injury.

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