IND vs NZ 2021: "It doesn't matter what format you play against India, they're a tough side to beat" - Mitchell Santner
New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner praised India's strength across all three formats following the Kiwis' 3-0 loss in the T20I series. The T20 World Cup finalists put up a string of tame displays in the recently concluded series. One could forgive the Kiwis for their performances as they only had three days of rest after their T20 World Cup final in Dubai before flying down to play against India.
Wrapping up at Eden Gardens. The Test players will now travel to Kanpur with the T20 players returning to Aotearoa. #INDvNZ https://t.co/u7YTjOkQFD
Mitchell Santner led the team in the third T20I in Kolkata in the absence of stand-in captain Tim Southee. The left-arm spinner also elucidated the importance of spin in the upcoming two-match Test series. While speaking at the post-match conference, Santner said:
"It doesn't matter what format you come up against India, they're a tough side to beat. We saw that in 2016. 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."
He added:
"We've seen how good Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel can be in these conditions. We've got guys like Ajaz and Somerville that are pretty eager to see some spinning wickets."
New Zealand suffered a comprehensive 3-0 loss in the Test series, the last time they toured India. The Blackcaps spinners played a huge role in orchestrating their Test series win in the UAE against Pakistan in 2018. The Kiwis will be hoping for more of the same in the upcoming Test series as well.
It was a challenging series: Santner
Mitchell Santner assessed New Zealand's performance in the T20 series and admitted that playing against India is always a challenge. The Men In Blue became the first side to whitewash the Blackcaps home and away in T20I series. India had completed a 5-0 rout away from home in early 2020. Santner added:
"It was a challenging series. It's always challenging to come to India and play a really good side. We were good in patches. The challenge for us was to get wickets at the top and we couldn't throughout the series."
He added:
"It's been a challenge. It's been a quick turnaround after the World Cup. But we pride ourselves on turning up and playing some good cricket against a very good Indian side. It's tough to do that and they showed once again that it's a tough challenge."
India's night in Kolkata. Congratulations to Rohit Sharma and his team. The Test series starts on Thursday in Kanpur. Scorecard | on.nzc.nz/3x8pal7 #INDvNZ https://t.co/6dGh0i8x6V
Santner concluded by stating that dew played a major role in all of the contests. New Zealand failed to win the toss in all of the three games and struggled to defend totals due to the dew factor. The majority of the matches saw the onset of the dew from the first innings itself which made it difficult for bowlers from both sides to grip the ball.