Mitchell Josef Santner (born 5 February 1992) is a New Zealand international

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and current captain of

New Zealand Cricket team The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Nicknamed the Black Caps (), they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. ...

in limited overs cricket. Domestically, he plays for Northern Districts cricket team. He is a bowling all-rounder who bats left-handed, and bowls slow left-arm orthodox spin. He has been involved in the highest 7th wicket partnership for New Zealand in Tests. Occasionally he plays golf as well. He was a part of the New Zealand squad to finish as runners-up at the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament was hosted bet ...

. He captained the New Zealand team in the

2025 ICC Champions Trophy The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy was the ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy. It was hosted by Pakistan Cricket Board from 19 February to 9 March 2025 and featured 15 matches held across three venues in Pakistan and one in the United Arab E ...

, where they ended up as runners-up in an enthralling final clash against India. Santner was elevated towards the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

team after a promising 2014–15 domestic season. He was named in the one-day squad for the tour of England following the retirement of

Daniel Vettori Daniel Luca Vettori (born 27 January 1979) is a New Zealand cricket coach and former cricketer who played for the New Zealand national cricket team. He was the 200th player to win their Test cricket cap for New Zealand and an inductee in the Ne ...

after the 2015 World Cup as New Zealand searched for another left-arm spin option. Santner was then drafted into the touring squad at the start of the England tour to cover for the absence of the players at the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

and made an immediate impression with a well-crafted 94 against

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. He was handed his

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

debut at

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having played just 19

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

matches for Northern Districts. In November 2020, Santner captained New Zealand for the first time in an international fixture, leading the team in the third

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) match against the West Indies. He did so again in the first T20I match against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. In December 2024, he was named New Zealand's permanent white-ball captain.

Early life

Santner was educated at

Hamilton Boys' High School Hamilton Boys' High School (Māori language, Māori: ''Te Kura Tamatāne o Kirikiriroa'') is a boys' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand and is the largest secondary school in the Waikato region. The school was estab ...

T20 franchise career

Santner was bought by

Chennai Super Kings The Chennai Super Kings, also known as CSK, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of the eight debut franchises when the league was establ ...

in 2018 for

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s but due to a bone defect in his knee that required surgery, made his IPL debut the following year. Playing for

he hit a 6 from the last ball of the match to defeat the Rajasthan Royals. In the 2018 IPL auction the left-arm spinner was bought by

at his base price of 50 lakh rupees yet missed the whole season due to a
injury
Between 2018 and 2024, he was playing for CSK. In the 2022 mega auction, he was bought by CSK. In February 2022, he was bought by the

in the

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament. In June 2023, shortly after winning the IPL with the

, Santner joined their sister franchise, the Texas Super Kings, for the inaugural season of

Major League Cricket Major League Cricket (MLC) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in the United States organized by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and sanctioned by USA Cricket. Founded in 2023, the league operates as a single entity consisting of ...

. During the 2025 IPL Mega auction, Mitchell Santner was bought by

Mumbai Indians The Mumbai Indians are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indians were founded in 2008 and are owned by India's largest Conglomerate (company), co ...

for 2 cr rupees.

International career

2015–2019

In April 2015, Santner was named in the

limited-overs squad for the tour of England. He made his

debut for New Zealand on 9 June 2015. His first international wicket was when he trapped fellow debutant Sam Billings for 3. During the fourth ODI in the same series he hit 28 runs off Adil Rashid in one over, which is the second highest runs off one over ever posted in England. He made his

debut in the same series on 23 June 2015. On 27 November 2015, Santner debuted in his first Test match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, becoming the first player in history to make his test debut in a day/night test match. He hit a boundary off the first ball of his Test career. For the 2016 World Twenty20 Santner was picked to the New Zealand squad as a premier spin bowler along with

Nathan McCullum Nathan Leslie McCullum (born 1 September 1980) is a New Zealand former international cricketer who represented the national team in One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket. A right-arm off-break bowler, he played domestically f ...

, who was playing his last international tour. In the first match against host India, Santner won the Man Of The Match award for his brilliant bowling performances, which led his side to win by 47 runs. His bowling performance of 4 for 11 is the best bowling figures by a New Zealand spinner in World Twenty20 as well. He was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' for the 2016 T20 World Cup by the ICC, ESPNcricinfo and Cricbuzz. Santner and Jeetan Patel became the first pair of spinners to open the bowling in an ODI in the 4th ODI. On 16 January 2018. Santner bowled Pakistani cricketer Fakhar Zaman with a carrom ball, something he had been working on for some time, but only recently brought into his international repertoire. In March 2018, Santner was out of the Test series against England, after suffering a knee injury, ruling him out of action for six to nine months. The injury meant Santner's planned spell in English

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

with

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

and

during 2018 had to be cancelled. In May 2018, he was one of twenty players to be awarded a new contract for the 2018–19 season by

New Zealand Cricket New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New ...

. Santner made the international comeback against Sri Lanka on 11 January 2019 in the only T20I between the sides before going on to play in four of the five ODIs against India as well as all three T20Is and then two of the three ODIs against Bangladesh later during the same summer. In April 2019, he was named in New Zealand's squad for the

. In November 2019, while playing against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at Bay Oval, Santner scored his maiden test century. His 261-run partnership with

BJ Watling Bradley-John Watling (born 9 July 1985), known as BJ Watling, is a South African-born former New Zealand international cricketer who has represented Northern Districts since December 2004. He made his Test debut in December 2009 and eight mont ...

became the highest ever 7th wicket partnership for New Zealand in test cricket. He also took 3 wickets in the 2nd innings and became the first New Zealand spinner to take a wicket on home soil since March 2018 with 101 consecutive Test wickets in 11 innings in between having all fallen to seamers.

2020–2024

In November 2020 Santner led the New Zealand side for the first time in a T20 against West Indies at Bay Oval,

Mount Maunganui Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of Tauranga located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completion of the Tauranga Harb ...

. In August 2021, Santner was named in New Zealand's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. In 2022 Santner became New Zealand's 24th ODI captain when he led the side in the only ODI against Scotland in Edinburgh. In the group stage of the 2023 World Cup against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Santner's five-wicket haul was the first by a New Zealand spinner in a World Cup match. On 13 February, 2024, Santner is named as Captain for the T20 international series against Australia, with Tim Southee only available for Game 1. In May 2024, he was named in New Zealand’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. In October 2024, when New Zealand beat India in a test series in India for the first time ever, Santner had the fine bowling figures of 7 for 53 and 6 for 104 in the second test at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. In December 2024, Santner at the age of 32 was announced as the new New Zealand captain for ODI & T20I, taking over from

Kane Williamson Kane Stuart Williamson (born 8 August 1990) is a New Zealand international cricketer and a former captain of the New Zealand national team. On 27 February 2023, Williamson became the all-time leading run-scorer for New Zealand in Test cricket. ...

, starting with matches against Sri Lanka in late December and early January 2025. Coach Gary Stead said this left Tom Latham to concentrate on the test captaincy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santner, Mitchell 1992 births Living people New Zealand cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand One Day International cricketers New Zealand Twenty20 International cricketers Northern Districts cricketers Worcestershire cricketers Chennai Super Kings cricketers New Zealand expatriate cricketers in India Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup Southern Brave cricketers New Zealand expatriate cricketers in England Northern Superchargers cricketers People educated at Hamilton Boys' High School Mumbai Indians cricketers Surrey cricketers