Mitchell Santner Declares IPL As The 'Pinnacle' Of All T20 Tournaments

New Zealand limited-overs specialist Mitchell Santner has shed light on his experience while playing at the Indian Premier League (IPL). While speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Mitchell Santner opened up on various aspects including Ravichandran Ashwin’s influence in improving his bowling. Santner plies his trade for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and made his debut in 2019.

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Mitchell Santner is one of the handiest bowling all-rounders; today, who relies on accuracy to curb the runs while also picking useful wickets. He bats at the lower order and can chip in with valuable runs, including whacking the ball out of the park. In 82 T20s, the 28-year old has a strike rate of 127.57 and a bowling economy rate of 7.12.

Mitchell Santner revealed that he felt quite excited when CSK picked him in 2018 and labels the tournament as the best in the sport amongst all T20 leagues. He said that playing alongside world-calls spinners like Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, and Ravindra Jadeja was an enriching experience.

“Yeah, the IPL, I guess, is the pinnacle of all T20 tournaments and I was pretty excited when I was picked up in 2018. There are some world-class spinners in Chennai to talk to and play with – guys like Harbhajan Singh, who I’ve watched a lot of, Ravindra Jadeja and Imran Tahir as well,” Santner conceded.

While due to injury, he could not play in 2018, but Santner felt glad he got the opportunity in 2019 to showcase his ability. The Hamilton-born claimed that no other tournament is as good as IPL at present.

“When I got injured the first year, I was pretty disappointed, but I was given the opportunity last time around to go and experience it. It’s an unbelievable tournament and definitely the best cricket going around in terms of T20 leagues,”

You try and fire it into the wicket and let the wicket do the rest: Mitchell Santner

Mitchell Santner stated that the experience to share dressing rooms with candidates like MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina was a gift. Santner termed them as very competitive cricketers and it’s impressive to imbibe their mindset and applying the same on the field.

“I’ve played against Dhoni a lot, so to share a dressing room with him and talk to him about how he goes about things was awesome. Even guys like Suresh Raina – you watched him from other teams you go with,” Santner asserted.

He went on to label the wicket in Chennai as highly conducive to spin-bowling, which was also his first experience bowling on a wicket like it. Santner claimed that in Chennai, it was all about pitching the ball on the right areas and letting the wicket do the rest. So far, Santner has played four matches, scoring 32 runs and picking four wickets.

“The IPL last year was a cool experience as well. It was the first time for me playing at a ground where it spins more, in Chennai, which is nice because you don’t have to do too much. You try and fire it into the wicket and let the wicket do the rest. I guess, for me, it’s about trying to adapt to the conditions as early as possible and find what will be the most attacking ball on each surface,” he added further.

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