• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Nz Captain Mitchell Santner Skips India Odis Prioritizes T20 World Cup By Playing Super Smash

NZ captain Mitchell Santner skips India ODIs, prioritizes T20 World Cup by playing Super Smash

Aakash Saini

Mitchell Santner and New Zealand team [Source: @bholination/x, AFP]Mitchell Santner and New Zealand team [Source: @bholination/x, AFP]

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner has decided to skip the ODI series against India to play the Super Smash 2025-26 season back home. With a T20 World Cup on the horizon, the seasoned New Zealand all-rounder has decided to prioritize 20-overs cricket over New Zealand’s international series in India.

The move underlines Mitchell Santner’s mindset of fine-tuning his T20 game in familiar conditions, ensuring he is mentally and tactically primed for the demands of a World Cup campaign.

Mitchell Santner stays back in NZ for T20 World Cup 2026 prep

Mitchell Santner, regular New Zealand cricket captain, has ditched his team’s three-match ODI series against India away from home. Moreover, the seasoned all-rounder stayed back in New Zealand to play Super Smash 2025-26 20-overs fixtures for the Northern Districts team in lieu of the upcoming 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

With Santner skipping the ODI series in India, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) named fellow all-rounder Michael Bracewell as New Zealand’s interim captain.

Nonetheless, Mitchell Santner will be expected to land in India to join the New Zealand squad in time for the T20I leg of the tour. The first T20I of the five-match series will be played on January 21 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. The series will serve as a testing ground for both sides before next month’s showpiece event in India and Sri Lanka.

Mitchell Santner in Super Smash 2025-26

Earlier on January 11, i.e. prior to New Zealand’s first ODI against India, Mitchell Santner turned up for Northern Districts for a T20 game against Wellington in Wellington. The cricketer picked up one wicket in the innings, that of Tom Blundell in his four overs at an expense of 34 runs. Chasing 186 in the second half of the match, Santner’s batting effort fell flat with a sluggish 12-run knock from 11 balls before Katene Clarke and Brett Hampton had set up Districts’ easy win.

With T20I series in India still another 10 days away, Mitchell Santner is lined up to play a couple of more Super Smash 2025-26 fixtures for the Northern Districts. He will next be seen facing Central Districts on January 13 in Napier.