Bhuvneshwar Kumar a significant threat in NZ, says Mitchell Santner

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner has highlighted returning Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar as a 'challenge' ahead of the T20I series, expecting him to thrive in the local conditions. Santner also noted the threat from India's explosive batting lineup.

Bhuvneshwar a 'challenge' in New Zealand conditions

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner believes India's returning pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar could pose a significant threat in the upcoming five-match T20I series, saying the experienced bowler will relish the conditions in the country ahead of Thursday's opener at Hagley Oval.

Bhuvneshwar is set to return to India's T20I setup after a gap of nearly four years, with his ability to swing the new ball expected to be crucial against New Zealand's batting lineup. "I think Bhuvi will love these conditions in New Zealand. If there's anything in the wicket, he'll find something out of it," Santner said on the eve of the series-opener, according to Cricinfo. "[Even] on some flat ones in India, he still manages to nip the ball and swing the ball. So with the new ball out here especially, he'll be a challenge."

"I mean in India it's pretty challenging as a bowler these days, like we've seen in the recent series \(against West Indies], 250 getting chased down - who wants to be a bowler? - but he might like it out here a little better."

India captain Shreyas Iyer also highlighted the value of Bhuvneshwar's experience, saying his return would strengthen the team's pace attack. "Bhuvi, like you said, brings a lot of experience in the team," Iyer said, as per Cricinfo. "That was something we lacked, especially after the IPL we had a lot of new bowlers. If you see Bhuvi's career graph in the last two years, he's won the IPL also so he knows very well how to dominate this format."

Santner wary of India's batting firepower

While New Zealand are wary of India's bowling threat, Santner also acknowledged the challenge posed by the visitors' explosive batting lineup, which includes Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, along with teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. India defeated New Zealand by 96 runs in the T20 World Cup final in March, with half-centuries from Samson, Abhishek and Kishan powering them to a formidable total of 255.

Santner said India have plenty of firepower at the top of the order and acknowledged Sooryavanshi's potential to make an impact if he features in the series. "Obviously he [Sooryavanshi] didn't play [in India's last series against West Indies], but I've seen first-hand how good he is [in] the IPL," Santner said, as per Cricinfo. "The power at the top that India have, Sanju and Abhishek have done really well, so I think it's one of those things where we know how good he is, and then the guys who are playing are also doing very well."

"I think he has a huge part to play for India, whether it's this series or not, but in the future. If he does get a crack this series, we've seen what he can do, and guys have found it quite hard to stop him. I know England, in the series away, went quite short and hard at a lot of the Indian batters, but I think we've seen in the IPL how aggressive he can be, so we've got some plans for him if he happens to play," he added.

Assessing conditions key for both teams

The New Zealand skipper expects conditions to vary across the five-match series, with the larger boundaries at Hagley Oval potentially offering some assistance to the bowlers in the opening match. "First things first, both teams will need to assess conditions," he said. "If there's a little bit in it, it's harder to go extremely hard, but we know India have shown when it's flat and good they're very, very tough to stop."

"So one thing here, there's slightly bigger boundaries as well, which is more in the bowlers' favour, but again, if it's flat and it's not doing a hell of a lot, we're going to have ways of slowing India down, because we know when it's flat and small they are very, very good," concluded Santner.

Santner also acknowledged the challenge of bowling left-arm spin against an Indian batting lineup featuring several left-handers, stressing the importance of adapting to conditions and building pressure rather than relying solely on turn.

The series opener will be followed by four more T20Is before the tour moves on to the limited-overs and Test formats.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)