New Zealand spinner Will Somerville is set to undergo an ankle surgery this week and will be out of action for eight weeks, meaning he will be unavailable for the rest of the cricketing summer and miss the two-Test series against India.

Somerville, 35, aggravated the stress fracture in his ankle on the first day of the Sydney Test earlier this year and missed the One-Day competition back home on return, although he did feature for the Auckland Aces in the Super Smash.

Somerville's injury absence comes on the back of Todd Astle's retirement from first-class cricket, which clears the decks for Ajaz Patel to make a return against India in the upcoming two-Test match series. Also in contention will be Ish Sodhi, who last played Test cricket in the UAE in 2018.