New Zealand head coach Gary Stead revealed that Nicholls sustained the injury to his right leg at the pre-tour camp in Mount Maunganui. He is set to undergo a scan after picking up the injury during running drills on Monday.

"He's having an MRI scan later today, so we'll know more after that as to the extent of it," Stead said on Tuesday. "But he's got it strapped up and I guess the next 24 to 48 hours will give us an indication of how serious that is."

Nicholls has been a vital cog in New Zealand's Test squad of late, averaging 40.38 in 46 Tests with eight hundreds. In the current cycle of the ICC World Test Championship, the middle-order batter has 280 runs in six matches, including a hundred that came in Black Caps' most recent Test series against South Africa. In the previous iteration of the WTC which New Zealand won, he finished as the third-highest run-getter for his team with 592 runs in 11 matches at an average of 39.46.

England are set to welcome New Zealand for three-match Test series, starting with the first match at Lord's on 2 June before the action heads to Trent Bridge and Headingley. The hosts are currently languishing at the bottom of the WTC table with a point percentage of 12.50% while New Zealand are sixth with 38.88%.

The series also marks the beginning of the new era of Test cricket for England, with Ben Stokes undertaking his first assignment as Test captain.

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