Mitchell Santner, the captain, mentioned that New Zealand will bank on their past experiences playing in similar conditions and their skill at adapting to get good results in the T20 World Cup.
Before the big ICC event that starts on February 7th, the Kiwis played eight matches (3 ODIs and 5 T20Is) in India.
Santner said after Saturday’s fifth T20I against India, which they lost by 46 runs, that a few players have played in Chennai recently in the IPL, or in games before that. He thinks Chennai has a really good pitch.
New Zealand is in Group B with Afghanistan, UAE, South Africa, and Canada. They’ll play three matches in Chennai and one in Ahmedabad.
Two matches are at 11 am, and the others are at 3 pm and 7 pm.
Santner said the team can handle the challenge.
He added that the day game will be a little different, and the guys will have to change their schedules and wake up a bit earlier. He said it’s another challenge and that they’re going to Ahmedabad for one game on red soil and then to Chennai on black soil, so it’ll be a bit different.
He said they’re good at adapting to surfaces quickly and will have to adapt to different surfaces during the World Cup. Since they have three games in Chennai, it might play differently than it did here, or it could be the same. If it is, they’ll know what to do.
Santner said the tough T20I series against India, which they lost 1-4, will help them.
He said they were tested a lot during the series because they knew how good India is, especially at home. But he thinks it was a great series and helped them get ready.
Even though the results were a bit disappointing, he thinks everyone, especially the bowlers, learned a lot. So, if they play India again, or if they play on a really flat pitch in India where 230 or 240 might be a good score, they’ll be ready.
The New Zealand captain was happy to have Lockie Ferguson back.
In his first match in months, Ferguson took two wickets for 41 runs, getting Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson out.
Santner said Ferguson shows his class whenever he plays for New Zealand, even when he plays in franchise leagues. They wanted to make sure he was ready and fit.
He added that they didn’t want to rush him back too soon, and he looked good and bowled fast in his first game back. He said it’s a big plus for the team.