Santner has previously captained the side in 24 T20Is and four ODIs and his first series in the full-time role is scheduled to be played against Sri Lanka from late December.
The first major event of his tenure will be the Champions Trophy in February before turning his focus to the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup.
“It’s definitely a great honor and privilege to be asked,” Santner said. “As a child my dream was always to play for New Zealand, but to have the opportunity to officially lead my country in two formats is special.
“This is a new challenge and I’m excited about the important times ahead for white-ball cricket.”
Manager Gary Stead explained that he was conscious of not adding to Tom Latham’s workload as Test captain. Santner is also the first choice in both white-ball formats.
“We have a skilful and experienced captain in Tom Latham who has led the team well in all three formats,” Stead said. “Tom has done an excellent job as full-time Test captain since taking over in October and we want to enable him to focus on tasks that require significant time and energy.”
“Mitch is a fantastic team man and leads by example in all aspects of the game. He has an incredibly calm and cohesive personality and has great respect in the dressing room, which will serve him well.
“He has a lot of experience leading a T20 team and did a good job last month when he captained the ODI team, so he already understands what it means to lead a team. I’m sure Mitch will bring his own too. Leadership ideas and styles for the role.”
Santner has recently enjoyed a resurgence in his Test career with man-of-the-match performances against India in Pune and England in Hamilton, but New Zealand now have a light schedule in the 2025 format.
