ICC T20 World Cup 2026 | Bumrah is in everyone's conversation and Varun hasn't become bad overnight: Santner

Ahmedabad: It is impossible that a bowler of Jasprit Bumrah's calibre won't feature in strategic discussions New Zealand will have ahead of the T20 World Cup final against India, skipper Mitchell Santner said on Saturday.

Bumrah has been in prime form in the ongoing T20 World Cup and his death overs bowling against a rampaging England in the semi-final has become a stuff of legends.

"Bumrah, yeah, I think he should be in everyone's conversation, the way he has been going. Against England, he looked pretty hard to hit. And he was obviously the game changer for India the other night," Santner said when asked about what kind of conversations the think-tank is having with regard to Bumrah.

But Santner said with a word of caution that focussing only on Bumrah would be foolish as a lot of Indian players have individually turned up on particular days during the campaign.

"We knew that was (Bumrah performing) always going to be the case. He's obviously a world-class bowler. But, you know, not just him, everyone has stepped up at different times. And as a team, that's where you want to be," the Black Caps skipper said.

Varun Chakravarthy has had a poor tournament by his standards but Santner feels it could be the big finale where the Tamil Nadu man might rediscover his mystery.

So will there by a psychological advantage with Chakravarthy not in his element?

"No, I don't think so," Santner denied the assumption categorically.

"We have all seen how good he is. And I think the challenge for any bowler is when pitch is flat compared to how it looks like when it's spinning or seaming.

"But when it is flat, I think, everyone can go for 60 on such a day. I think he's got to know that he is still a very good bowler. You should know that you are only one game away from changing the tide."

While Santner hasn't had a look at the strip, he presumed that it would be flat and high-scoring.

"Yeah, I mean, I haven't had a look at the wicket yet. It is still under cover. But one can only assume it's going to be pretty flat and high scoring," the skipper said.

Against England, India smashed their way to 253/7 on a Wankhede shirtfront but Santner's idea is to restrict them to 220 if they want to make a match of it.

"And at the end of the day, if it's going to be flat, like it was the other night, trying to restrict India to 220 instead of 250, it might give us a good chance," the skipper said.