Mitchell Santner set to miss Ireland, England Tests after shoulder injury diagnosis

New Zealand's white-ball captain, Mitchell Santner, is set to be out of action for at least a month after scans revealed a grade-three ACL injury to his left shoulder.

The incident unfolded in match No. 33 of the ongoing IPL between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Wankhede. Santner suffered the blow on the penultimate ball of the 17th over. He lunged forward while diving for a catch at deep square leg and landed awkwardly on his left shoulder. 

While he completed the catch to help Jasprit Bumrah dismiss Kartik Sharma, he was taken out of the field immediately for treatment and played no further part in the fixture.

"The 34-year-old returned home to New Zealand this week and saw a specialist this morning who confirmed a rest and rehabilitation period of at least one month," read a press release issued by the Blackcaps.

"The diagnosis means Santner is unavailable for the one-off Test against Ireland and the first Test against England, with his availability for the second and third Tests to be evaluated at a later date."

Santner has been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament. Mumbai Indians had retained Santner for INR 2 crore ahead of the IPL 2026 season. Mumbai have now replaced him with Keshav Maharaj. Maharaj comes in at a paycheck of INR 75 lakhs. Maharaj had played two IPL games for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 2024 season.

New Zealand's tour of Ireland and England 2026

New Zealand are slated to play a one-off Test against Ireland. The four-day Test will be played at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast and will get underway from May 27.

The Kiwis will then travel to England for a three-match Test series, which is a part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship cycle (2025-27).