'We Were Challenged With Ball Against India': New Zealand Skipper Mitchell Santner Raises Concern Ahead Of T20 World Cup 2026 Encounter Against AFghanistan

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner has acknowledged that his side's inability to control the powerplay with the ball emerged as a key area of concern during the recent five-match T20I series against India, particularly as the team prepares for their upcoming group stage match against the Afghanistan in the ICC T20 World Cup.

The Mitchell Santner-led Black Caps will face the Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on February 8.

Ahead of their T20 World Cup opener, Santner, during the pre-match press conference, said that his side found it difficult to contain India's aggressive top-order batters early in the innings. The New Zealand skipper noted that fast starts in the power play are likely the template of every side in the World Cup.

"Yeah, I think, again, we were challenged with the ball, especially at the start. The way Kishan, Shivam a little bit as well, and obviously Abhishek came out in the power play. So I think that's going to be a theme throughout this World Cup is teams - if you get off to a flyer in the power play, you're going to put yourself in a pretty good position," Santer said, as quoted by ICC.

Santner added, "So I think on the flip side of the ball, it's how can you take two, three wickets early and really slow teams down, I think, depending on surfaces. I think Sri Lanka will play slightly different to India, you know the conditions as well. So, if you do get a flat one, it's identifying that with the bat, trying to cash in at the top, and then with the ball, it's still trying to take wickets as much as you can."

When Santner was asked about any injury scares ahead of the Afghanistan clash, the New Zealand skipper replied, "I think we do have all 15, which is nice because that warm-up game, we thought we were going to field nine at one stage. I think we're ready to go, which is good."

New Zealand are slotted in Group D alongside runers-up South Africa, Afghanistan, Canada, and the UAE in the T20 World Cup.

New Zealand squad for T20 World Cup
 

Mitchell Santner (captain), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi.