Mitchell Santner is learning from video footage of Axar Patel and Jadeja

While most players who toured India in the home season still haven’t figured out how to tackle the hosts at home, New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner on Monday said the key to success against India’s batsmen would be to bowl quick and cause them to make mistakes. With most batsmen being good players of spin, the task is a tough one for overseas bowlers but Santner seems positive about his plans.

The Kiwis are in India and preparing to get their campaign against the Indians in the limited-overs tour underway. He has just landed in India while a few other prospective options featured in the New Zealand A squad for the unofficial Test and ODI series against the Indian A team. They were defeated clean in both the series and it will be interesting to see how the senior side copes up with the challenges in India.

“It is tough (to bowl against India), they are very good players of spin. They have grown up playing spin. I just try to keep it pretty simple. Bowl the ball reasonably quick on the surface and make the batsmen commit a mistake. If you get a few dots and build pressure that way, you can hopefully get a few wickets. That’s what I’ll be trying to do,” he said, ahead of his team’s practice game against Board President’s XI on Tuesday.

“Hopefully get a little bit of turn out there, but just hopefully be able to control them a little bit. Try and get a few dots in the over and try and be happy with maybe four (runs) an over. Looking forward to the series,” Santner added.

On being asked about any particular plans to bowl to Virat Kohli, who has been relatively silent with the bat over the last few months, Santner was quick to admit that it’s a difficult job to tackle him.

“Not easy. He’s a very good player, and so is a lot of their team. They’re in good form; the way they played against Australia was very good. The last time we came here, we did okay. Hopefully we can do one better this time and take the series,” he mentioned.

Ready for the challenge

According to the left-arm spinner, his past experience of bowling here will help him in this series. Santner himself has picked 3 wickets in 5 ODI matches against India and has a four-wicket haul them in the T20I format. The Kiwis toured India around the same time last year and succumbed to India’s ruthlessness at home losing the series 3-2 despite a good fight and the bowler is looking to change that, this year.

“We haven’t been here for a while. But for me, it’s about taking those past experiences of the way I bowled over here, and the way to bowl spin over here. So I’ll be looking to do that,” he added.

In order to get tips on bowling spin in the subcontinent, the 25-year-old has taken help from Black Caps legend Daniel Vettori who has immense experience of bowling here. He also added that he has been learning some tricks that he can implement while bowling here by watching videos of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.

“I have (learnt from Vettori). I am not trying to bowl miracle balls every ball. It’s about tying up a batsman and waiting for them to make a mistake. Especially on wickets that offer a little bit, I watched a lot of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. They just try to bowl very consistent and good areas and wait for the batsmen to hit a big shot and get out. I have taken a little bit of footage from therem,” he added, as reported by Zee News.

He has done his homework

Santner said the in-form Hardik Pandya, who was Man of the Series in the ODI series against Australia, is a concern but the Kiwis are ready to tackle him. In fact, he didn’t shy away from revealing his observations about him, hinting that he has done his home work and is prepared for the challenge.

“He is a very good striker. He tends to hit down the ground very good. So I guess it’s key to take the length off him. I saw him hit (Adam) Zampa for 3 sixes in an over. So once he hits one, he wants to keep going. So if you can tie him down or make him hit singles, hopefully he will try to play a big shot and go for a ball that’s not quite there. But yeah he’s a very good player and striker. So we have to beware,” he said.