New Zealand vs Pakistan 2021: Neil Wagner ruled out of Christchurch Test due to toe injury

“Neil [Wagner] was absolutely outstanding,” Stead was quoted as saying by Reuters. “I don’t think there are too many individuals who could do what he did in that test match.

“Neil hasn’t traveled with us [to Christchurch]. The injections he was getting [to lessen the pain] were wearing off [quickly] and we can’t let him go through that again,” Stead said.

Before Stead, Wagner had earned praise from his captain Kane Williamson during the post-match presentation ceremony yesterday. Williamson, who had won the ‘Man of the Match’ award for scoring his 23rd Test century, admitted to watching a “unique” process regarding Wagner’s approach in the match.

“People talk about the size of his heart, perhaps, in terms of what he does on the cricket field, but to have a couple of broken toe… he was in a lot of pain and he was going off and having injections and numbing his foot and we were trying to use him when the injection was taking effect – it was kind of unique for all of us,” Williamson said.

“His appetite and motivation to be out there and try and make a difference for the team is huge and we haven’t seen it any bigger than the effort he’s put in across this Test match. It had an impact on his ability to operate at 100 per cent, but he still came in and got the breakthrough like he does for us so often when he’s at full strength. It was a very, very special effort from Wags, one that the team appreciated. We needed him out there and he delivered,” the 30-year old player added.