India vs New Zealand ODI series: 5 biggest factors that will decide the outcome

Santner’s bowling

Mitchell Santner's success will be key to New Zealand's success

One of the main reasons why New Zealand were able to beat India in the World Cup semi-final was the wonderful spell bowled by Mitchell Santner. He completely choked off the runs for India and also picked up a couple of key wickets.

With the Indian batting line-up having aggressive batsmen like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who don’t like to let spinners get settled and tend to go after them, it’s going to be an exciting contest. In the World Cup semi-final, the big three of the Indian batting line-up were already out when Santner came into bowl.

If that is not the case in this series, the left-arm spinner will find himself tested more intensely. While he hasn’t been able to cut it as a spinner in the longer format, Santner has emerged in the last few years as a very capable performer in ODIs and performed well against India too in the past.

He relies on subtle variations of pace and length to keep the batsmen quiet. If he can deliver 10 good overs in the middle of the Indian innings, that would be a big booster shot for his team, otherwise they will have problems.