IPL is the pinnacle of all T20 tournaments – Mitchell Santner

 

New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner has said Indian Premier League is the pinnacle of all the T20 tournaments. IPL has all the world-class players and coaches and the level of competition in the league is unbelievable. The IPL started back in 2008 and since then the T20 league has changed the way the game has been played in the last decade.

Most of the world-class players want to play in the IPL not only because of the lucrative contracts it offers but also to raise their game.

Meanwhile, Santner made his IPL debut for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2019 against Rajasthan Royals. In fact, the southpaw has played only four IPL matches in which he has scored 22 runs and scalped four wickets.

The spin all-rounder reckons it is a great learning experience for him to play alongside the experienced spinners like Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir and learn from them.

Meanwhile, Santer was picked by CSK for his base price of INR 50 lakhs in IPL auction 2018. However, he could not play a solitary match as he was injured in 2018 but finally got his opportunity to play in the previous season of the league.

“Yeah, the IPL, I guess, is the pinnacle of all T20 tournaments and I was pretty excited when I was picked up in 2018. There are some world-class spinners in Chennai to talk to and play with – guys like Harbhajan Singh, who I’ve watched a lot of, Ravindra Jadeja and Imran Tahir as well,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Santner as saying.

On the other hand, Santner added that it was a great experience to share the dressing room with CSK captain MS Dhoni. Dhoni is one of the most successful IPL captains in the history of the league and Santner added it was good to pick up Dhoni’s brain and notice how he goes about his methods on the field.

“I’ve played against Dhoni a lot, so to share a dressing room with him and talk to him about how he goes about things was awesome. Even guys like Suresh Raina – you watched him from other teams you go with,” Santner said.

Mitchell Santner has played 44 T20I matches for New Zealand and he has snared 52 wickets for the national team. There is no doubt that Santner would like to play more for CSK in the coming time. The IPL is expected to take place in the UAE from September 26 to November 8.