Santner suffers grade three ACL shoulder injury

Mitchell Santner, New Zealand's white-ball captain, is set to be out for at least a month after New Zealand Cricket confirmed the extent of his shoulder injury.

A media release on Friday revealed that Santner has a grade three ACL shoulder injury, deeming him unavailable for the one-off Ireland Test and the first Test against England.

Santner suffered the injury while fielding for Mumbai Indians in an IPL game against Chennai Super Kings on April 23. Attempting a catch, he injured his shoulder and hit his head on the ground. MI brought in Shardul Thakur as his concussion replacement. He was later seen with an ice pack on his shoulder in the dressing room.

The all-rounder flew back home and was replaced by Keshav Maharaj, another left-arm spinner, at MI. Before the season, Maharaj had played a total of two IPL games, joining MI for a fee of INR 75 lakh.

Back in New Zealand this week, Santner consulted with a specialist, with fresh scans revealing the extent of the damage.

The one-off Test against Ireland begins on May 27, while the England series starts on June 4 at Lord's, with two more Tests at The Oval and Trent Bridge. They are also set to travel to the Caribbean for an ODI and T20I series against the West Indies in July.