Son of former New Zealand captain, Ken Rutherford, Hamish is a solid left-handed opening batsman who made an instant impact on his Test debut, scoring a stunning 171 against England in Dunedin.

A hard hitting batsman, Hamish started playing cricket in the 2008 edition of the Under-19 World Cup. However, the 2011 Plunket Shield was the turning point for Hamish as he scored three centuries in the tournament and showed great signs of maturity in the process.

In February 2013, Hamish was called up to the New Zealand squad for the T20I series against England. He played consistently throughout the series and good form in the shorter format resulted in a surprise Test callup in the very same year against the very same opposition.

Hamish had a dream start to his Test career, slamming a century on his debut and was dismissed for a well compiled 171 against the likes of Stuart Broad and James Anderson.

He was considered the future of Black Caps, but Hamish failed to capitalise on his debut innings and couldn’t reach the fifty-run mark in the next 11 innings. 

Hamish has been a victim of concussion on a number of occasions. In 2020, during a training session with Otago, he was struck on his helmet and had to miss several games for his domestic side. A year before that, Jofra Archer hit him while Hamish was trying to duck under the short pitched ball. 

Once touted as the future of New Zealand, Hamish has failed to live up to the expectations. A technically sound player, Hamish’s inability to convert good starts into big scores has halted his international career till date.

(As of May 21)