Former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum wants all-rounder Mitchell Santner to be dropped from the final Test against Australia. Santner hasn’t been effective thus far in the series with both bat and ball. The southpaw finger spinner has scalped a solitary wicket in the two matches he has bowled. He has bowled with an average of 250.
Furthermore, Santner also disappointed with the bat. The left-hander could only manage 32 runs in the two-Test matches and failed to deliver the goods. Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting had also recently said that Santner has made himself ‘unselectable’. Moreover, former Australian opener Mark Waugh said Santner is the reason why New Zealand cannot win the Boxing Day Test.
Santner has disappointed.
“I don’t expect he’ll play this test match and I think for him he’ll have to go away and work on some things,” McCullum said.
McCullum believes everyone gets dropped at some point or the other in their career but that doesn’t you don’t belong at this level. The former swashbuckling batsman added that Santner needs to work on his bowling and then come back stronger.
“Everyone gets dropped at some stage in their careers and that doesn’t mean you can’t play at this level, it just means you’ve got some work to do so.”
On the other hand, Santner’s counterpart Nathan Lyon believes Santner’s all-round ability is hard to ignore for New Zealand. Thus, Lyon added the all-rounder will be instrumental in New Zealand’s success.
“We’re expecting him to definitely play and play a massive role in the next week,” Lyon said.