Having played 13 matches in India, New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner has claimed 23 wickets.
Mitchell Santner (Photo: Facebook)
New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner has accepted that India will exploit the home advantage when they host the Kiwis for three ODIs and as many T20I, starting October 22.
“It is tough (to bowl against India), they are very good players of spin. They have grown up playing spin. I just try to keep it pretty simple,” Santner said on the eve of the first practice match against Board President’s XI.
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The 25-year-old, however, plans to ball ‘reasonably quick’ to deceive the best of Indian batsmen. “Bowl the ball reasonably quick on the surface and make the batsmen commit a mistake. If you get a few dots and build pressure that way, you can hopefully get a few wickets. That’s what I’ll be trying to do,” he said.
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Santner personally enjoys bowling in India. Having played 13 matches here in India, the orthodox spinner has claimed 23 wickets with best spell of 4/11. “It always tends to spin here more, which is a good thing for me as a spinner. But yeah the Indians are very good players of spin, and we have to work really hard.
“Hopefully get a little bit of turn out there, but just hopefully be able to control them a little bit. Try and get a few dots in the over and try and be happy with maybe 4 an over. Looking forward to the series,” Santner continued.
During the 2016 World T20, Santner enjoyed an impressive outing in India. He notched up 10 wickets in four matches of the mega event. The cherry on the cake was New Zealand’s opening game against India, in which Santner concluded with four dismissals.
Recalling the moment, Santner revealed his success mantra: “I think on that day, we did keep it pretty simple, tried to bowl relatively quick. Didn’t try and give them too much and let them make a mistake.”
“We can learn from that experience and take it into this series. We have to adapt, if it’s not going to sin as much then you might have to change the way we bowl,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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