On Tuesday, October 22, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) confirmed their 15-man team, and Mitchell Santner, an all-rounder, was selected interim captain for their next white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. The cricket board also said that they will make a choice in the next months on their long-term ODI and T20I leader.

In 2022, Santner led New Zealand in an ODI match against Scotland, which they won by a margin of seven wickets. In addition, he has captained the squad in 22 Twenty20 Internationals and won 12 of them. Additionally, wicketkeeper-batter Mitchell Hay and bowling all-rounder Nathan Smith received their first national call-ups from the Blackcaps. Smith's achievements in domestic cricket have been pounding on the selectors' doors. In March, he was named the New Zealand Cricket Awards' Men's Domestic Player of the Year for NZC, and in September, he signed his first central contract.