The Blackcaps were actively searching for a comparable bowler after the retirement of Kiwi hero Daniel Vettori when they discovered Mitchell Santner, a 22-year-old who may be a like-for-like substitute for Vettori. Santner has been an important member of the New Zealand cricket team since making his international debut.
Mitchell Santner was born in Hamilton on February 5, 1992. The New Zealand all-rounder had always wanted to play cricket, and his bowling resemblance to Daniel Vettori’s allowed him to be recruited into the senior team. He is the first player to play in a day-night Test for his country.
Career
Domestic
Mitchell Santner made his First-Class debut for Northern Districts in 2011 and has been with the same squad in New Zealand’s domestic setup since then. In 2016-17, the left-arm orthodox spinner spent time in Worcestershire.
The selectors saw promise in him after just 19 List A matches for Northern Districts, and he was quickly promoted to the national team.
IPL career
After impressing on the international level, the brave all-rounder was purchased by MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings for just INR 50 lacs in the 2019 auctions. The Kiwi bowler has to be one of CSK’s most cost-effective acquisitions. The Kiwi allrounder, on the other hand, only played four games in the 2019 season and took four wickets. CSK will be looking to hire his services in the gritty pitches of Sharjah and Abu Dhabi in 2020, and it is predicted to be a breakthrough season for him.
International
Santner made his Test debut against Australia on November 27, 2015, which also happened to be the first day-night Test match ever. Santner scored 31 runs off 46 deliveries in the first inning, and he also took Josh Hazlewood’s wicket by cleaning him up. Santner continued to impress with the willow in the second inning, compiling a masterful 45-run inning before being stumped by Nathan Lyon’s bowling.
Santner made his first test century against England at Bay Oval in November of this year. His 261-run partnership with BJ Watling set a new record for New Zealand’s highest 7th wicket partnership in test cricket. He also took three wickets in the second innings, becoming the first New Zealand spinner to take a wicket on home soil since March 2018, with 101 straight Test wickets in 11 innings falling to seamers in the interim.
Mitchell Santner made his One-Day International debut against England at Edgbaston on June 9, 2015, a few months after the World Cup. Santner seemed to be the ideal like-for-like substitute for Daniel Vettori when the Kiwis were searching for a replacement. He appeared in all five games of the series, taking seven wickets and scoring 97 runs. He took his first international wicket when he bowled Sam Billings for three runs. He hit 28 runs off Adil Rashid in one over during the fourth ODI of the series, the second most runs off one over ever in England. In May 2018, he was one of twenty players to receive a new contract from New Zealand Cricket for the 2018–19 season.
Santner was also chosen for the 2019 World Cup, in which New Zealand finished second. In the championship, he appeared in ten games and scored 72 runs while taking six wickets.
Santner made his T20I debut against England at Old Trafford on June 23, 2015. With the bat, he scored 9 runs, but with the white ball, he took two wickets, Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow. Mitchell Santner was selected for the 2016 T20 Kiwi squad as a premier spin bowler, alongside Nathan McCullum, who was on his last international tour, after some outstanding results in T20I cricket.
Despite having a strong batting line-up, New Zealand were unable to chase down the target of 127, thanks to Santner’s outstanding performance. Santner claimed four wickets in all, including Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, and Suresh Raina. Santner was dropped from the squad due to poor form and injuries, but this was arguably his finest result in the competition and the following years.
Santner made his international debut against Sri Lanka in the only T20I between the two teams on January 11, 2019.