AHMEDABAD: It is impossible that a bowler of Jasprit Bumrah’s calibre will not feature in the strategic discussions New Zealand have ahead of the T20 World Cup final against India, skipper Mitchell Santner said on Saturday, while also warning that focusing only on him would be a mistake.
Bumrah has been in prime form in the ongoing T20 World Cup, and his death-overs bowling against a rampaging England in the semi final has already become the stuff of legends.
"Bumrah, yeah, I think he should be in everyone's conversation, the way he has been going.
Against England, he looked pretty hard to hit.
And he was obviously the game changer for India the other night," Santner said when asked about the kind of conversations the think tank is having with regard to Bumrah.
However, Santner sounded a note of caution, saying focusing only on Bumrah would be foolish as several Indian players have stepped up on different occasions during the campaign.
"We knew that was always going to be the case. He's obviously a world class bowler. But, you know, not just him, everyone has stepped up at different times. And as a team, that's where you want to be," the Black Caps skipper said.
Varun Chakravarthy has had a poor tournament by his standards, but Santner believes the Tamil Nadu bowler could rediscover his mystery in the final.
So will there be a psychological advantage with Chakravarthy not in his element? "No, I don't think so," Santner denied the assumption categorically.
"We have all seen how good he is. And I think the challenge for any bowler is when the pitch is flat compared to how it looks when it is spinning or seaming. But when it is flat, I think everyone can go for 60 on such a day. I think he's got to know that he is still a very good bowler. You should know that you are only one game away from changing the tide."
While Santner has not had a look at the strip yet, he presumed it would be flat and high scoring.
"Yeah, I mean, I haven't had a look at the wicket yet. It is still under cover.But one can only assume it's going to be pretty flat and high scoring," the skipper said.
Against England, India smashed their way to 253/7 on a Wankhede shirtfront, but Santner said New Zealand would aim to restrict them to 220 to keep the contest alive.
"And at the end of the day, if it's going to be flat, like it was the other night, trying to restrict India to 220 instead of 250, it might give us a good chance," the skipper said.