New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner enjoyed his 4-year stint with Chennai Super Kings as he found himself fortunate to play under one of the greatest captains, MS Dhoni. Santner believes that Dhoni is very different from New Zealand captain Kane Williamson but both are equally effective in their own way.
Santner played just 6 games for CSK but the all-rounder believes that spending some quality time with a leader like MS Dhoni benefitted him a lot to grow as a player.
“Dhoni is a very instinctive captain. He has captained in a lot of games. He has been in tricky situations a lot. He just has the knack of knowing what will happen in the game. He will give you pretty good views from behind the stumps. It’s quite awesome to be involved with CSK for the last four years and to play under one of the greatest captains and players of our time.” Santner told Indian Express in an interview.
“On the other hand, Kane is someone who does a lot of planning beforehand. He is very relaxed and calm. It helps you as a player when you are under the pump,” he added further.
Santer, who captained New Zealand in 3 T20Is, said that he learnt various aspects about captaincy from Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson, and MS Dhoni.
“I have been lucky enough to play under Brendon, Kane and MS over the years. You note down stuff from your captains and try to implement it when you lead the team. If I manage to pick up a few stuffs from their rulebooks, I will do fine as a captain.” he stated.
“Winning the WTC was pretty special for cricket in our country”
He also shared the experience of winning the World Test Championship as New Zealand won the inaugural WTC title, beating India in the final at Southampton.
“Winning the WTC was pretty special for cricket in our country. The conditions in Southampton were in our favour, but it was still an outstanding effort from the boys to win it. It was our first major title. It came after the heartbreaks of making it into the (World Cup) final of 2015, drawing the final of 2019. This time we went on to do one better and finally won the title,” said Santner.
Notable that New Zealand has been a very consistent side in the last few ICC tournaments as they finished as runners-up in the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups. Also in the recently concluded T20 World Cup they also finished as a finalist.
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