Ahmedabad: “It’s easy to say it’s just another game but everyone knows it’s probably not.”
Those were the most striking of Mitchell Santner’s comments but there was more from the New Zealand captain’s 15-minute media interaction on Saturday when he acknowledged the enormity of the occasion – the T20 World Cup final against hosts and favourites India.
New Zealand enter this year’s final accompanied by the usual tropes. Of being a small country that punches above its weight, of being a bunch of nice men. There is constant chatter about their limited player pool and lightweight support staff. A lot of that may be true but they don’t like losing, just like every other sporting team. And they don’t need reminding that they have lost plenty more knockout matches than they have won in the modern era. They are out to correct that.
“I guess that’s the goal, isn’t it, is to silence the crowd. But there are a lot of variables in T20 cricket,” Santner said. “For us it’s taking confidence that if we can go about our business, we can upset another big team. I think there’s obviously a lot of pressure on India to win this World Cup at home. So, if we can go out there and try to put the added pressure on them, (we’ll) see what happens.”
Santner has been an able leader of this Kiwi outfit. Thanks to his guile, at no stage has one felt that as a left-arm orthodox spinner, a less-in-demand skill-set, his place was under threat. Sunday is an opportunity for the man nicknamed ‘Slinky’ to power past an image.
The 34-year-old was there in 2021 when New Zealand last made a T20 World Cup final. They had been good all the way through before being overpowered by Australia in the UAE.
“The way you go about it has to be the same whether it’s your preparation, what that looks like on the day leading up to the game. And I think it always comes down to a couple of moments, especially in T20 cricket where if you can squeeze the opposition or take the advantage through there,” he said. “I don’t think you have to reinvent the wheel.”
New Zealand has traditionally been able to raise their game for ICC events. One of the reasons why is how they pace up right for these tournaments. New Zealand finished 1-4 in the bilateral series that led up to this campaign. At the time, they knew the flat beds they were playing on wouldn’t necessarily be a reflection of how things would be in the world event. Conversely, it is the home team that took more time to adapt.
“I haven’t seen much of New Zealand. I don’t watch too many matches. Their team is similar to the one we faced in the bilateral series,” India captain Suryakumar Yadav said about their opponents. “They have been playing some good cricket. So have we.”
“They are one of the sides who are prepared tactically. They come with good plans,” he added.
Santner would know, in the final more than ever, that his own bowling as well as Cole McConchie’s could be crucial. Rachin Ravindra has had some success of late, but it’s unlikely he will be as effective if there is less grip on offer. Then there is the challenge of confronting India’s power-hitters in the middle. Both Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya can be the most destructive if offered favourable match-ups.
How Santner masterminds his bowling resources may become a big factor in deciding whether India’s batting power has the final say like it did in their semi-final against England.
