New Zealand’s T20I team captain Mitchell Santner said that having recent successes against India across different formats gives the team an edge over the Men in Blue, ahead of the five-match India vs New Zealand T20I series, set to begin on Wednesday at Nagpur.
New Zealand will be coming into the T20I series after an impressive 2-1 series win over the Shubman Gill-led Team India in the three-match ODI series. Led by Michael Bracewell, New Zealand put up a special fight to wn the series against an Indian team that saw ODI giants Rohit Sharna and Virat Kohli return. The Kiwis, despite missing key New Zealand players like Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Matt Henry, and others, registered their first-ever ODI series on Indian soil.
Notably, New Zealand also registered a historic 3-0 Test series clean sweep over India back in 2024.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the Nagpur T20I, Santner said that the team enjoys playing India in India, and the recent successes do give his team an advantage. He emphasised that the series is both about winning and preparing well for the T20 World Cup 2026 by competing against a strong team in similar conditions, calling it an exciting and valuable series.
“It obviously gives us an edge. We love playing India, and we love playing in India. We have had some recent successes against India in different formats. We are looking forward to the series. The aim, first of all, is obviously to win the series but also have good enough preparation leading into the T20 World Cup 2026. It’s about playing a great team in similar conditions to what we are gonna face in the World Cup. In terms of preparations for the series, it’s going to be agreat series,” Santner said.
