IND vs NZ : Big Loss to New Zealand before Test Series, ‘this’ Big Player Retired

New Delhi: India and New Zealand are to play a two-Test series from February 21, but before that New Zealand has suffered a big setback. New Zealand veteran leg-spinner Todd Astle has retired from red-ball cricket. He has said goodbye to first-class cricket to focus on limited-overs cricket. With this, he will not play for New Zealand-A in the upcoming first-class series against India-A. 33-year-old Astle’s test career was close to eight years, but he played only five Test matches.

A series of two first-class matches will be played between New Zealand-A and India-A. The first match will be played on 30 January and the second match on 7 February.

More Time should be Given to Test Cricket

Astle, who made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2012, played the last Test match against Australia in Sydney recently. Astle said that it was his dream to play Test cricket and it was an honour for him that he got a chance to represent his country. He said about Test cricket that red ball is the peak of cricket, but it also needs to be given more time.

More than 300 wickets in first-class cricket

Todd Astle took 334 wickets for 119 first-class matches for his team Canterbury. He ended his red-ball career as the highest wicket-taker in first-class cricket for Canterbury. New Zealand selector Gavin Larson congratulated Astle for his Test cricket career.