"Look, it's still far too early to know," Stead said ahead of the five-match ODI series in Pakistan. "He's had the operation and, to date, what we know, that's been successful. So he is in the very, very early stages of his rehab programme.

"It's obviously pretty non-weight-bearing at this stage, and he's in a brace. So, it's really just meeting milestones as we go. Our line around Kane, at the moment, is still it's unlikely that he will be available, but we certainly don't want to rule out a person of his class and calibre, and the things he brings to this team, too early in case there is that chance still.

"Yeah, absolutely [would take him to India as a mentor]."

"It [schedule] is not out yet, so there's not much we can do about that," Stead said. "So it does keep our options reasonably open without knowing the venues and who we are playing at different venues.

"So, it does make it pretty difficult to finalise plans right now. But that again just gives players opportunities, that are within the squad now, to come out here [in Pakistan] and play for New Zealand."

Mark Chapman is in the World Cup frame

"The [T20I] series result itself was fantastic for the team, if you consider the number of players that are at the IPL" Stead said. "And we were playing a full-strength Pakistan team - a team that made the T20 [World Cup] final. So, to get a two-all result against them and play the way we did, especially in the last T20 game, was fantastic.

"The Mark Chapman-James Neesham partnership was really, really significant. Obviously, it wasn't the best of starts with the bat, but the composure the two of them showed in that situation was brilliant. It was not just one knock about Mark Chapman why he was added to the ODI squad, but there is a lot of competition for places and it's not so much about the competition, but it's how we keep building towards the World Cup. And Mark Chapman is one guy who is in our thoughts around that."

Is there a way back for Martin Guptill?

"I think World Cups do require experience and I think Martin Guptill is one of those guys that has always turned up at World Cups," Hesson said on Sky Sports NZ recently during a chat with Logan van Beek. "I think he would be very much in their thinking and the ability for [Devon] Conway to either stay at the top or bat at No. 3 depending on which other player stands up and says: 'Look, I must be included'.

"I don't think the World Cup is a time where you want too many new faces. You want to intersperse the talented youngsters amongst some experience. Missing Kane... that diminishes that experience significantly. So, that's where Martin Guptill comes back into the mix. He has obviously performed well in some T20 tournaments around the world recently and in particular the PSL."