ICC World Twenty20: Warrior from North districts

NAGPUR: Sitting gingerly on the dais, addressing his first major Press conference after decimating India, Mitchell Santner looked a little lost for words. The big geeky glasses casing his watery eyes made him resemble Daniel Vettori, albeit on a crash diet.
Indeed, as it turns out, he has shaped up in the middle too like his legendary predecessor. With a four-wicket haul for just 11 runs, it’s quite a jump into the international circuit atop a till now callow career which started in the Northern Districts of New Zealand.
A new-age hero overnight and the last part of his skipper Kane Williamson’s big gamble plan, Santner was someone who our openers could have planted on the ropes — instead the rookie spinner from paceland pasted them in the pavilion with such guile and gumption that it turned the complexion of the tournament.
Considering that Santner was picked not as the first but third spinner by his skipper, more for his batting acumen than his wicket taking capacity, makes it all the more magical for the 24-year-old youngster from Hamilton.



“It was the selectors’ decision to bowl three spinners. When spinners take nine wickets on a spin track then it’s not a bad one,” the left-arm spinner said in a slow and low voice, perhaps in tribute to the pitch that gave him the feat.
“Looking at the pitch we knew it will spin. There was lot of purchase out there. I think we are lucky that three of our spinners were able to do the job… It started spinning a lot later on” he explained.
Santner knows how big it is to beat India in India that too through spin.”Every time you beat India, it’s a confidence booster. We knew it will be a hard fought game, we had to fight to defend our total Indian bowlers bowled well. We came out and stuck to our plans,” said Santner who got the prized wicket of Virat Kohli.
But for starters, any wicket would have been good enough for this beginner. “Kohli is a world class batsman, but any Indian wicket is a good one,” he said with a satisfied smile, adding as far as he is concerned, he would much rather carry the Nagpur pitch all over the tournament. 
Source: The Pioneer, 17 March, 2016

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