Mitchell Santner did not even have a four-wicket haul in his first 28 Tests. Then in his 29th, in Pune, the left-arm spinner’s match-haul soared to 13.
The famed Indian batters could hardly tackle Santner, who returned figures of 7/53 and 6/104 in Pune. It wasn’t too long ago when the 32-year-old left-arm spinner, who is usually seen as a white-ball specialist for the Black Caps, had a tough time in Sri Lanka with just one wicket in three innings. So what magic helped Santner turn it around?
In September, New Zealand roped in former Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Rangana Herath as their spin consultant. That didn’t produce instant results. But in the crunch game against theNo.1 side in the World Test Championship standings, Santner, in spin-friendly conditions in Pune, vindicated his team’s faith.
Herath, during his playing days, wasn’t quite a vicious turner of the ball like Muthiah Muralidaran and relied largely on accuracy and varying the pace. Herath asked Santner and the other New Zealand spinners to be as accurate as possible to successfully plot India’s fall in Pune.
“For a spinner, accuracy is paramount,” Herath, the highest wicket-taker among left-arm bowlers in Test cricket (433 scalps from 93 games), told The Telegraph from Mumbai on Thursday.
“Alongside getting the lines and lengths right, we had also discussed the need to bowl slower in Pune given the nature of the surface. Pace, drift and all do matter, but accuracy is even more important as you can then play around with pace and your lines.”
Santner not only dwarfed the reputed Indian spinners with his magic spells, healso bowled relentlessly from one end in the fourth innings in Pune for his six-for. That isn’t easy for a cricketer who has primarily been a limited-overs bowler.
“Playing so many white-ball games (104 matches each in ODIs and T20Is) means Mitch has a somewhat decent understanding of his strength and capability. At the same time, he’s got a very good loading position and pose. With that, he’s got a proper action which helps him control the pace,” Herath explained.
“In Pune, Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja), in particular, bowled quicker at 92-95kmph, while Mitch and the other New Zealand spinners bowled a bit slower. As for Mitch, he has been understanding the surfaces well of late.”
On the red-soil pitch at the Wankhede, Herath once again wants the Black Caps’ spinners to be accurate first. “We also need to have proper field-settings with a good balance of close-in fielders and catchers at the deep as the Indian batters always look to score runs.”
