New Zealand vs India: Player battles - Part 2 

#2 MS Dhoni vs Mitchell Santner

MS Dhoni is in prime form and this battle with Santner will be one to watch out for

MS Dhoni taking on Mitchell Santner will be an intriguing battle to watch. Both of them returned to playing for the national side after a long break and both of them had successful returns to the team.

Dhoni, in particular, silenced his critics with his well paced knocks in the ODI series against Australia and proved that despite that brute hitting ability being toned down, the 'finisher' hasn't lost his ability to finish off chases. Him batting at number 4 seems to be a good idea for India though it does alter the team balance.

Why he is being pitted against Santner is because he is most likely to come in during the middle overs as both the openers will be hungry for runs and even if they don't, King Kohli is in prime form and he can score runs as well. Though most people will be looking at Ish Sodhi, who has been the Kiwis' primary spinner, Dhoni has actually struggled to get going against Santner and Santner has had him once before this game.

The clever all-rounder will come in more of a dark horse and with his tight lines and tricky lengths, he can feed off the pressure created by Sodhi. Dhoni has struggled against wrist spinners in the past and has got over it but finger spinners might be a problem and it will be a battle worthy of watching.