Mitchell Santner’s men were humbled in the T20 World Cup final by India earlier this week, but there is no time to mope.
Santner and seven of his team-mates will be thrust straight back into action.
They have been included in an extended squad to face South Africa in a T20 series starting at Bay Oval on Sunday.
Because of the short turnaround, two squads have effectively been selected to help manage workloads.
Devon Conway and Lockie Ferguson will join Santner in the squad for the first three games, while Kyle Jamieson, Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham, Ben Sears and Ish Sodhi are available for the entire series after comparatively lighter workloads during the World Cup campaign.
Top-order batters Katene Clarke and Nick Kelly are in line to make their T20I debuts during the series, as is Central Districts spinner Jayden Lennox. Clarke and Lennox are selected for games four and five.
Clarke’s maiden Black Caps call-up follows a breakout Super Smash season for Northern Districts, where the 26-year-old topped the competition run-scoring charts with 431 runs.
Lennox’s first inclusion in a Black Caps T20 squad follows his successful ODI debut series against India in January.
Kelly has been a consistent performer for Wellington across the formats in recent years and earns his maiden T20 call-up off the back of his ODI debut series against Pakistan at home last April.
Josh Clarkson, Zak Foulkes, Bevon Jacobs and Tim Robinson get their chance to impress after being selected for the full five-game series.
Tom Latham, who was the top run-scorer for the Canterbury Kings in the Super Smash, makes his return to the national T20 set-up as a wicket-keeper-batsman and will also take over the captaincy reins from Santner for the final two matches.
Central Districts gloveman Dane Cleaver will replace Conway for the final two games of the series.
Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra and Tim Seifert will miss the series to rest and freshen up.
Matt Henry will also take leave to spend time with his new baby.
Michael Bracewell (calf), Adam Milne (ankle), Will O’Rourke (back) and Blair Tickner (ankle) were not considered for the series due to injury.
Black Caps
T20 squad
Mitchell Santner (games 1-3), Katene Clarke (4-5), Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver (4-5), Devon Conway (1-3), Lockie Ferguson (2-3), Zak Foulkes, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Nick Kelly*, Tom Latham (4-5), Jayden Lennox* (4-5), Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Robinson, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Ish Sodhi.
*Potential T20I debut — Allied Media
