IND vs NZ: Mitchell Santner wins Rs 1 lakh award despite not being in the playing XI

New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner wasn’t selected in New Zealand’s final XI in either of the two Tests against India. Yet, he made his presence felt. During the second Test against India at the Wankhede, an inhuman effort from the the left-arm spinner ensured he got a huge round of applause from one and all.

During the first innings of the second Test, the crowd at Wankhede witnessed an acrobatic effort from Santner, who was playing as a substitute fielder. In the first ball of the 46th over, William Somerville flighted the ball to Shreyas Iyer who swung it over mid-wicket, and it looked all set to go for a six. However, the 29-year-old substitute fielder displayed some excellent fielding skills.

He managed to pull the ball back in an unreal fashion. As he was standing right at the ropes, he leapt as high as he could and seemingly, took a spectacular overhead catch. However, as he completed it, he realized that he was falling onto the ropes.

Nevertheless, he did well to throw the ball back just in the nick of time. Hence, he prevented the ball from going for a six, and received a good round of applause from his teammates. Thus, Mitchell Santner went on to win the “Best Save of the Match” award, despite not featuring in the playing XI of this game. He won Rs 1 lakh for his efforts as well.

Tough time for New Zealand on India tour

However, New Zealand endured a tough time in India throughout the whole tour. After getting whitewashed in the T20I series, they lost the Test series as well. Despite brilliant individual efforts from several of their players, they have to now return home empty-handed.

It is safe to say that they were thumped by the hosts in the second Test, as they lost the game by 372 runs. This loss ensured that the Kohli-led side replaced them as the number one team in the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings.