New Zealand vs India, 1st T20I: 5 Talking Points

#2 Mitchell Santner looks to be back at his best

Santner was in his element on Wednesday

For the better part of 2018, Mitchell Santner was nursing a long-term knee injury. The ailment kept the spinner out of the IPL and the home series against Sri Lanka. When included in the ODI series versus India, Santner looked a little rusty and rightly so. However, on Wednesday, he was in his element.

The left-arm spinner used his full repertoire of deliveries to tie Rishabh Pant in knots and eventually prized out his wicket courtesy a pin-point yorker. In the same over, he bamboozled Shankar in flight which led to the right-hander mistiming his lofted shot. The ball was pouched safely by Colin de Grandhomme to hand Santner his second wicket.

Throughout his spell, the spinner mixed his pace and was difficult to line up. Even the great MS Dhoni tried numerous times to get on top of him but to no avail. A fit and firing Santner provides New Zealand with another dimension altogether. Coupled with his ability to pop up with crucial runs down the order, the all-rounder lends balance to New Zealand.

It is always tough to make a comeback after a long-standing injury and New Zealand would surely have been waiting with bated breath. Yet, if the performance at the Westpac Stadium was any indicator, they can let out an enormous sigh of relief.