Santner: 'Bhuvi will love these conditions in New Zealand'

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back playing for India after a gap of nearly four years, and his oppositions are worried. New Zealand certainly are wary of the challenge he can pose in the five-match T20I series that begins in Christchurch on Thursday.

"I think Bhuvi will love these conditions in New Zealand. If there's anything in the wicket, he'll find something out of it," New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said on the eve of the series-opener. "[Even] on some flat ones in India, 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."

New Zealand are aware of India's batting threat too. The last meeting between these sides was the final of the T20 World Cup in March, when blistering half-centuries from the top three of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan powered India to a total of 255, and eventually a 96-run win. Apart from these three India also have the precocious brilliance of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to call on.

"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. "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."

Santner expects a range of conditions to be in play across the five T20Is, and highlighted how dangerous India can be on flatter pitches. He hoped the large outfield at Hagley Oval would give the bowlers some respite on Thursday.

"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.

"If there is something in the pitch for the seamers to start, it's obviously nice, but throughout the series we're going around the country, they're not all going to be green seamers and flying around, so both teams are going to have to adapt quickly to the conditions and then play accordingly."

Santner knows he is up for an especially difficult challenge as a left-arm spinner coming up against an India line-up full of left-hand batters.

"It is challenging," he said. "Everywhere you go, there is - I wouldn't say in your favour - but there's always something in New Zealand. You can get a bit of bounce, here [at Hagley Oval] there's slightly a bigger side [of the ground], so you can kind of use that a little bit.

"But it's less of trying to spin the ball hard into the slot and hoping it does something. There might be a little bit less of that, there might be [more of] being smart with trying to get in and out of overs and build pressure through ones or dots.

"But I think it's going to change. You get to Wellington, dimensions again are different - short square [boundaries], longer straight, so that changes the way you bowl. Hamilton is quite small, and Eden Park is small as well. So throughout the series, as a bowler, as a bowling unit, we're going to have to be smart in the way you go about it."