New Zealand’s left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and his fellow tweakers are keen to bowl on the spin-friendly tracks of India in the upcoming Test series after their dismal showing in the T20I series.
India inflicted a 3-0 whitewash over New Zealand in the T20I series after their Super 12 exit from the recently held T20 World Cup.
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Playing the T20I series three days after their T20 World Cup final loss to Australia, the BlackCaps rested some of their key players, including skipper Kane Williamson.
The Kiwis, inaugural ICC World Test Champions, are now gearing up for the two-Test series, beginning 25 November in Kanpur.
"Hopefully the boys are ready for the first Test in Kanpur. It's a quick turnaround again. We have some good spinners, we know spin will play a big part. It's about just trying to grind out as much as possible," Santner said at a virtual media interaction after New Zealand’s 73-run defeat in the third T20I.
"We've seen how good Ashwin, Jadeja and Akshar Patel can be in these conditions. We've got guys like Ajaz (Patel) and (Willliam) Somerville who are pretty eager to see some spinning wickets."
Santner is well aware of the tough challenges in India as he recalled the 2016-17 tour, when New Zealand lost the Test series 3-0 and ODI series 3-2.
"It doesn't matter what format you come up against India, they're a tough challenge to beat. We saw that in 2016."
Mitchell Santner was the stand-in captain in the third T20I at Eden Gardens, wherein the visitors were bowled out for 111 while chasing India’s total of 184/7.
"It's been a quick turnaround from the World Cup. But we pride ourselves on turning up and play some good cricket against a very good Indian side.
"It's tough to do and they showed once again that it's a tough challenge to come to India and play a really good side. We were good in patches."
Santner also praised Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul for their consistent performances in the T20I series.
"The challenge for us was to get wickets at the top and we couldn't throughout the series. But credit the way Rohit and KL batted at the top.
"We had our chances, but the conditions changed in every game and dew played a major factor. And then again tonight (Sunday), it was there, but it didn't get any worse.
"We were outdone this series but we're looking forward to the 12 months towards the next World Cup," he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
