New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner says that proper planning around the New Zealand conditions might help his side rein in the Indian big-hitters when the two sides collide in five T20Is starting October 22.
India is set to tour New Zealand for five T20Is, five ODIs, and two Tests on a long tour, which will begin with the T20I series. India had won the T20 World Cup 2026 at home by defeating New Zealand in the final, and the Kiwis will be looking to avenge that loss.
Santner is aware that the Black Caps will want more than just discipline to hold the visitors in check because Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Sanju Samson are capable of destroying bowling assaults from the start.
While emphasizing the necessity for his bowlers to rapidly adjust and remain in the game even when the boundaries start to flow, he is hoping that the early-season conditions will help.
“They pack power all the way through and come out with a lot of aggression. As a bowler, you know there aren’t going to be too many dot balls. You have to plan accordingly, assess the conditions, and use them to your advantage,” Santner said on Sony Sports.
The captain of New Zealand underlined that bowlers must concentrate on the deliveries between them, even though he admitted that boundaries would unavoidably occur against such an energetic opposition.
“Even if you get hit for boundaries, it is about what happens with the balls in between. Those could be wicket-taking deliveries or dot balls. If we can restrict India to around 200 in New Zealand, that might be a good score, considering the power they possess.
If the ball moves, we need to use that to counter their explosive batting. But if the pitch is flat, then we might have to create pressure by using the bigger boundaries and finding different ways of taking wickets,” he added.
Santner realized that the explosive power of the current-day T20 format has left bowlers in tough situations, as even giving away 30-40 runs in an over could be considered a decent effort.
“If you can take two or three wickets for around 30 or even under 40 runs, you are probably doing a very good job. Against someone like Abhishek or Ishan, you know they will come hard from ball one. You have to decide whether that means bowling yorkers, arm balls, or taking the ball away from their hitting arc,” he explained.
The danger posed by young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was also pointed out by Santner. After witnessing the teenager perform in the IPL, the New Zealand skipper is well aware that India’s big hitters would trouble his bowlers right from the beginning.
“I’ve seen what he can do at the IPL. Whether it is Sooryavanshi, Abhishek, Ishan, or Sanju, India has power throughout the lineup. It will be a challenge to stop him,” Santner said.
Santner also acknowledged that India could arrive with a point to prove following New Zealand’s historic 3-0 Test series triumph on Indian soil and a 2-1 ODI series victory.
“You never like losing a series at home. The more you play in places like India, the better equipped you become to handle the conditions. India might have a point to prove, but our job is to play what is in front of us and beat a very good team at home,” he said.
He also spoke about the exciting presence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli that will be brought to the ODI series.
“Rohit and Kohli may not be getting any younger, but they are still churning out the runs,” he stated.
(Sony Sports/Times of India inputs)
