Ian Butler. Photo / Northern Advocate
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Ewen Thompson and Ian Butler get further opportunities to show their Twenty20 credentials in this week's pair of internationals against India.
Left-arm swing bowler Thompson got a taste of top-level cricket against the West Indies in Hamilton at the end of December, but was overlooked for the one-off
Twenty20 in Sydney eight days ago.
Butler made his return from a four-year absence from the national side in that one-run loss to Australia and did a tidy job with his lively medium pace.
With senior new-ball bowler Kyle Mills sidelined as he recovers from an Achilles injury, New Zealand's bowling stocks look thin, and India's star-studded batting lineup will view these games as an opportunity to send a message before the ODI and test series.
Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor and Jacob Oram return after layoffs of varying lengths through injury.
Ryder is expected to resume opening with Brendon McCullum in Christchurch on Wednesday. That will allow Martin Guptill, who filled in at the top of the order for Ryder in the ODI series in Australia, to drop one spot, with Taylor, who missed the Twenty20 game in Sydney with a hamstring injury, to return to his favoured No 4 place.
Allrounder Oram will play only as a batsman, after a lengthy break with a calf injury. That might be a sign of where Oram's New Zealand future lies, after having to work through a string of injuries in the past few seasons.
Offspinner Nathan McCullum is preferred to the more attacking, but less parsimonious, Jeetan Patel as spin backup to captain Dan Vettori.
