Christchurch : 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." 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. (IANS)
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