- Santner: ‘Bhuvi will love these conditions in New Zealand’ The New Zealand team was also worried about the threat to India’s top spot and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ahead of the T20I series opener in Christchurch. The three that matter: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are all smiling after dismissing Pat Cummins. The three that matter: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah all smiles after dismissing Pat Cummins, India v Australia, World Cup, Chennai, October 8, 2023 Shane Warne Australia v New Zealand, 2nd Test, day one, at the WACA, Perth, Thursday, November 20, 1997 Faf du Plessis on the words of support he gave to Steven Smith after it was revealed that the ball was in the Year 2018 was manipulated. New Zealand vs India, 2nd T20I – Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will open the second match, New Zealand vs India, 1st T20I, Christchurch, October 22, 2026. The Indian batting coach is excited about the potential of Naman Dhir and says that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is learning a lot even when he is not playing. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi sat on, New Zealand v India, 1st T20I, Christchurch, October 22, 2026. Batting in white-ball cricket is less about where the head or feet are and more about what the hands are doing. Pratika Rawal celebrates her fourth ODI century, India vs Zimbabwe, 1st ODI, Vadodara, October 23, 2026 NZ A vs Ind A – Rhys Mariu, Henry Nicholls, Ben Lister and Mitch Hay in the New Zealand A team who only played the first game of four days before joining the Indian ODI team. Shikhar Mohan scores a half-century for Jharkhand, Vidarbha vs Jharkhand, Ranji Trophy 2025-26, Day 1, Nagpur, October 25, 2025 Rashid Khan finishes with 3 for 41, Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe, Tri-Series Final, Sharjah, October 23, 2026 Concussion fears, neck problems and low scores – Steven Smith will be at Newlands, the scene of the Sandpergate scandal, want to turn things around 27th over, South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 4, October 21, 2026 Australia have lost two of their last four Tests, crushing margins and the lack of partnerships – or more than one batter standing at any given time – have hurt them the most. Travis Head had to fight the most after their follow-up match, South Africa vs Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 4, October 21, 2026 Simon, for Australia Harmer celebrates a wicket, South Africa vs Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 4, October 21, 2026 Marnus Labuschagne returns, his Test career hanging by a thread, South Africa vs Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 4, 21 October 2026 SA v Australia, 2nd Test – Through rain, nerves and late drama, Africa South shows its championship spirit. The hosts have rediscovered their courage The championship spirit that turns adversity into opportunity and faith into victory that brings the series back into the juggle with Matthew Breetzke to dismiss Steven Smith provided this dramatic moment, South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 5, 22 October 2026 SA v Australia, 2nd Test 2026-27 – Pat Cummins – Australia I’m coming innings batted did not “get over the cracks.” Australia needs to seriously consider making changes to its batting line-up for the crucial Test in Ce Town. Steven Smith was not present to defeat Kagiso Rabada, South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 5, October 22, 2026. Rabada’s spirit, Jansen’s performance and Bavuma’s own runs ensured a strong response from the WTC champions after their defeat in Durban last week. Temba Bavuma kept it all in and then let it all out as he reached three figures, South Africa vs Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 3, October 20, 2026. Janith Liyanage celebrates with her teammates after hitting a six on the penultimate ball to win the game. Janith Liyanage celebrates with her teammates after hitting a six off the penultimate ball to win the game, England v Sri Lanka, Tri-Series, October 22, 2026 Harry Brook put himself in illustrious company at Pindi – but the only statistic that mattered was his side’s defeat. Will Jacks congratulates Harry Brook on his double century, England v Sri Lanka, Tri-Series, October 22, 2026 Sri Lanka celebrates victory after chasing 430, England v Sri Lanka, Tri-Series, October 22, 2026 “If there’s something in the wicket, he’ll find something” – Mitchell Santner on Bhuvneshwar Kumar Bhuvneshwar Kumar was back in India colours, India v West Indies, 5. T20I, Bangalore, October 17, 2026 Bhuvneshwar Kumar is playing for India again after almost four years and his opponents are worried.
- New Zealand are certainly concerned about the challenge he could pose in the five-match T20I series, which begins in Christchurch on Thursday.
- “I think Bhuvi will love these conditions in New Zealand.
Santner: ‘Bhuvi will love these conditions in New Zealand’ The New Zealand team was also worried about the threat to India’s top spot and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ahead of the T20I series opener in Christchurch. The three that matter: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are all smiling after dismissing Pat Cummins. The three that matter: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah all smiles after dismissing Pat Cummins, India v Australia, World Cup, Chennai, October 8, 2023 Shane Warne Australia v New Zealand, 2nd Test, day one, at the WACA, Perth, Thursday, November 20, 1997 Faf du Plessis on the words of support he gave to Steven Smith after it was revealed that the ball was in the Year 2018 was manipulated. New Zealand vs India, 2nd T20I – Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will open the second match, New Zealand vs India, 1st T20I, Christchurch, October 22, 2026. The Indian batting coach is excited about the potential of Naman Dhir and says that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is learning a lot even when he is not playing. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi sat on, New Zealand v India, 1st T20I, Christchurch, October 22, 2026. Batting in white-ball cricket is less about where the head or feet are and more about what the hands are doing. Pratika Rawal celebrates her fourth ODI century, India vs Zimbabwe, 1st ODI, Vadodara, October 23, 2026 NZ A vs Ind A – Rhys Mariu, Henry Nicholls, Ben Lister and Mitch Hay in the New Zealand A team who only played the first game of four days before joining the Indian ODI team. Shikhar Mohan scores a half-century for Jharkhand, Vidarbha vs Jharkhand, Ranji Trophy 2025-26, Day 1, Nagpur, October 25, 2025 Rashid Khan finishes with 3 for 41, Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe, Tri-Series Final, Sharjah, October 23, 2026 Concussion fears, neck problems and low scores – Steven Smith will be at Newlands, the scene of the Sandpergate scandal, want to turn things around 27th over, South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 4, October 21, 2026 Australia have lost two of their last four Tests, crushing margins and the lack of partnerships – or more than one batter standing at any given time – have hurt them the most. Travis Head had to fight the most after their follow-up match, South Africa vs Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 4, October 21, 2026 Simon, for Australia Harmer celebrates a wicket, South Africa vs Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 4, October 21, 2026 Marnus Labuschagne returns, his Test career hanging by a thread, South Africa vs Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 4, 21 October 2026 SA v Australia, 2nd Test – Through rain, nerves and late drama, Africa South shows its championship spirit. The hosts have rediscovered their courage The championship spirit that turns adversity into opportunity and faith into victory that brings the series back into the juggle with Matthew Breetzke to dismiss Steven Smith provided this dramatic moment, South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 5, 22 October 2026 SA v Australia, 2nd Test 2026-27 – Pat Cummins – Australia I’m coming innings batted did not “get over the cracks.” Australia needs to seriously consider making changes to its batting line-up for the crucial Test in Ce Town. Steven Smith was not present to defeat Kagiso Rabada, South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 5, October 22, 2026. Rabada’s spirit, Jansen’s performance and Bavuma’s own runs ensured a strong response from the WTC champions after their defeat in Durban last week. Temba Bavuma kept it all in and then let it all out as he reached three figures, South Africa vs Australia, 2nd Test, Gqeberha, Day 3, October 20, 2026. Janith Liyanage celebrates with her teammates after hitting a six on the penultimate ball to win the game. Janith Liyanage celebrates with her teammates after hitting a six off the penultimate ball to win the game, England v Sri Lanka, Tri-Series, October 22, 2026 Harry Brook put himself in illustrious company at Pindi – but the only statistic that mattered was his side’s defeat. Will Jacks congratulates Harry Brook on his double century, England v Sri Lanka, Tri-Series, October 22, 2026 Sri Lanka celebrates victory after chasing 430, England v Sri Lanka, Tri-Series, October 22, 2026 “If there’s something in the wicket, he’ll find something” – Mitchell Santner on Bhuvneshwar Kumar Bhuvneshwar Kumar was back in India colours, India v West Indies, 5. T20I, Bangalore, October 17, 2026 Bhuvneshwar Kumar is playing for India again after almost four years and his opponents are worried.
New Zealand are certainly concerned about the challenge he could pose in the five-match T20I series, which begins in Christchurch on Thursday. “I think Bhuvi will love these conditions in New Zealand. “If there’s something in the wicket, he’ll find something in it,” New Zealand ctain Mitchell Santner said on the eve of the series opener.
“[Even] on some flat pitches in India, he still manages to pinch and swing the ball. It will be a challenge, especially with the new ball here. “I mean, it’s quite difficult to be a bowler in India these days, as we saw in the recent series [against West Indies], 250 people were chased – who wants to be a bowler?
– but maybe he wants to be a little better here.” Indian ctain Shreyas Iyer felt that Bhuvneshwar’s return to the T20I squad would give a boost to his team and add more experience to his pace department. “Bhuvi, as you said, brings a lot of experience to the team,” Iyer said. “We were missing that, especially after the IPL we had a lot of new bowlers.
If you look at Bhuvi’s career in the last two years, he has also won the IPL, so he knows very well how to dominate this format. “New Zealand is also aware of India’s batting threat. The last meeting between these teams was the T20 World Cup final in March, where blistering half-centuries from top three Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan took India to a total of 255 and an eventual 96-run win. The art of these three Indias can also draw on the early brilliance of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
“Of course he [Sooryavanshi] didn’t play [in India’s last series against the West Indies] but I saw how good he is [in] the IPL,” Santner said. “India’s top powerhouse Sanju and Abhishek have done really well. I think it’s one of those things where we know how good he is and then the guys who are playing are doing really well too.” “I think he will play a big role for India, whether in this series or not, but in the future.”
When he has success in this series, we’ve seen what he can do and the guys found it hard to stop him. I know England were pretty small and strong against a lot of Indian batters in the away series, but I think we’ve seen in the IPL how aggressive he can be, so we have plans for him if he feels like playing. “Santner expects there will be different conditions across the five T20Is and has highlighted how dangerous India can be on flatter pitches. He hoped the large outfield at Hagley Oval would give the bowlers some breathing room on Thursday.
“First, both teams have to assess the conditions,” he said. “If there is a little bit of that, it makes it harder to drive extremely hard, but we know that India showed that when it was flat and good, it was very, very difficult to stop it. “So one thing here is that there are slightly bigger boundaries as well, which tends to benefit the bowlers, but again, if it’s flat and doesn’t do much, we’ll have opportunities to slow India down because we know when it’s flat and small, they’re very, very good.”
“If there is something on the field for the seamers to start with, that is of course good, but throughout the series as we travel around the country they will not all be green seamers and flyers, so both teams will have to adt quickly to the conditions and then play accordingly. Santner knows he faces a particularly tough challenge as a left-arm spinner against an Indian line-up full of left-handers. “It is challenging,” he said. “Everywhere you go there is – I wouldn’t say this in your favor – but in New Zealand there is always something.
You can get a bit of momentum, here [at Hagley Oval] there’s a slightly bigger side [of the pitch] so you can use that a bit. “But it’s not really about turning the ball in the slot and hoping it does something. There might be a little less of that, it might be [more] about being clever and trying to get in and out of overs and create pressure through runs or points.
“But I think that will change. When you come to Wellington the dimensions are different again – short [boundary] squares, longer straights, which changes the way you play. Hamilton is quite small, as is Eden Park.
Throughout the series, we as bowlers and as a bowling unit have to be smart about how we proach things. New Zealand vs India – 1st T20I – Mitchell Santner says Bhuvneshwar Kumar “will love these conditions in New Zealand”. The New Zealand club was also worried about the threat posed by India opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ahead of the T20I series opener in Christchurch. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was back in India colors, India vs West Indies, 5th T20I, Bengaluru, October 17, 2026 History: History: 1559269+ NZ vs India – 1st T20I – Mitchell Santner says Bhuvneshwar Kumar will “love these conditions in the T20I series opener in Christchurch”.
