Has Mitchell Santner been best T20I bowler versus Team India?
What's the story
New Zealand's Mitchell Santner has made history by becoming the first bowler to take multiple four-wicket hauls against India in T20 Internationals. His achievement came during the second T20I match at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. Santner had a major impact on India's chase of 181 runs. His brilliance in the middle overs meant India went from 40/0 to 112/6. Though the Kiwis lost the match, Santner's 4/21 across four overs garnered headlines. On this note, we analyze Santner's stunning T20I returns versus India.
Stats
Santner owns second-most economical spell versus India
Santner's first four-wicket haul against India came back in the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup.
He claimed figures of 4/11 across four overs as India were folded for 79 while chasing 127 in Nagpur.
As per Cricinfo, this remains the joint-second-most economical four-over spell against India in T20Is.
Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga's 4/9 in the 2021 Colombo match tops this list.
Brilliance
Santner only second to Sodhi
With his latest spell, Santner has raced to 29 wickets across as many games against India at 27.34.
His economy of 7.77 is the best among bowlers with at least 16 scalps against the Men in Blue.
The left-arm spinner is only behind his teammate Ish Sodhi in terms of bowlers with the most T20I wickets versus India.
The latter has 30 wickets in this regard.
Economy
Six spells of 20 or fewer runs
There have been six instances of Santner conceding 20 or fewer runs in a four-over T20I spell versus India.
South Africa's Kagiso Rabada and England's Adil Rashid are the only ones to deliver more than two such spells (3 each).
Santner has completed his quota of four overs in 21 T20Is versus India.
11 of these games have seen him record economy rates of 6.75 or fewer.