Look forward to playing alongside Dhoni and Raina: Mitchell Santner

New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner, who was bought by the Chennai Super Kings in the recent IPL 2018 auctions, is happy about the fact that he will be bowling to MS Dhoni in the nets, and not in the games because both of them will be sharing the same team. Santner made this comment knowing that to face MS Dhoni can be challenging for any bowler. Dhoni will also be the captain of CSK, which means Santner will get to learn a lot from him.

The New Zealand all-rounder was picked in the New Zealand one side after a promising 2014-15 domestic season. He has played 17 tests, 48 ODIs and 26 T20Is for his national team. The Kiwi will also get to learn from the likes of Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja among others.

“I’m happy I’ll be bowling to (MS) Dhoni in the nets rather than in a match like I have been,” said Santner, who was picked at Rs. 50 lakhs. “I’m definitely looking forward to joining the culture at CSK, talking to and playing alongside experienced players such as skipper Dhoni, (Suresh) Raina and (Ravindra) Jadeja in a great team environment,” he added.

“The IPL is probably the biggest T20 competition in the world, so I am excited to showcase my skills on the big stage and ultimately help CSK win games and ideally the championship,” he concluded.

Santner’s international career at a glance 

The 2018 IPL is all set to begin on April 7 with the returning CSK taking on defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The 26-year-old has 535 Test runs and 34 Test wickets in 17 games. In the 50-over format, he has 555 runs and 56 wickets from 48 games and in the shortest format, from 26 games he has 170 runs and 28 wickets. Santner will be hoping to make an impact in his first ever IPL season.

For more IPL news follow crictracker.com