For a spinner to concede not even a single boundary or maximum against an explosive batting unit like England is one hell of a task. Mitchell Santner did exactly so in the opener of the ongoing World Cup against Jos Buttler and Co. and that too, on a belter of a track in Ahmedabad.
Alongside being an important part of New Zealand’s thumping nine-wicket win over the defending champions, it also passed on a message to their opponents that the left-arm spinner will not be easy to put away.
Following his 2/37 against England, Santner picked up nine wickets in the next three games, all of which New Zealand won comfortably, to emerge as the highest wicket-taker (11 wickets) of this World Cup so far. Yes, after England, he bowled against teams lowly-ranked teams (the Netherlands, Bangladesh and Afghanistan), but one can’t
take away the impressive economy rate of 4.43 that Santner has maintained in the competition.
Coming from a country having no rich history of spin bowling, these aren’t the easiest conditions to bowl. And neither is Santner a bowler with a bagful of variations. In fact, that makes his effort even more creditable.
“Santner is a much improved bowler now, thanks to his Chennai Super Kings stint,” former England left-arm spinner Monty Panesar told The Telegraph from New Delhi.
“With a slighly lower arm and coming wide off the crease, he’s extracting more turn than the other spinners and getting the ball to bite while it also skids on with the arm,” Panesar explained.
India challenge
The clash against India in Dharamsala on Sunday will obviously be Santner’s toughest, especially with hosts’ captain Rohit Sharma and No.3 Virat Kohli in excellent touch.
Unlike the pitch in Chennai that Santner is well familiar with now, the surface in Dharamsala is expected to favour batters much more, which too will make his task harder.
“Indian batsmen will come hard at him, but Santner shouldn’t be surprised,” Panesar feels. “If he sticks to his process and focuses on getting the ball to bite and skid on, he’ll do well.
“India would of course want him to bowl the flatter trajectory, but it’s up to him to keep concentrating on giving flight and getting the ball to dip, coming wide off the crease. He has to got to keep believing in himself.”
Given his experience in international cricket, Santner, too, must be aware of the current scenario.
