After IPL nightmare, Mitchell Santner declared fit to play in the first Test against England next week

It was a freakish injury that Santner suffered in April, and days later, he had to leave the league.

Updated on: May 31, 2026, 18:39:56 IST

Written by Prateek Srivastava

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Ahead of the first Test against England, New Zealand have received a big boost as their star player Mitchell Santner has been declared fit to play at Lord's from June 4.

Mitchell Santner's injury was a big blow to Mumbai Indians. (PTI)

Santner picked up a shoulder injury in the Indian Premier League playing for Mumbai Indians. He had to leave the tournament days later. Initially, he had been ruled out of the first Test, but now, as it turns out, he has recovered just in time.

Also Read: ‘He is thinking the whole thing is a great joke’: David Warner slammed for his Instagram post

34-year-old Santner is New Zealand's white-ball captain, and earlier this year, he led his team to a runners-up finish in the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Santner brings a lot to the table. He is a fantastic left-arm spinner and can turn the complexion of the game through his batting too. He averages almost 26 in Test cricket and has scored a century and four fifties in the 32 Tests that he has played to date.

Freakish injury cut short his IPL stay!

In April, the New Zealander picked up the injury while trying to take a catch against Chennai Super Kings. He was substituted due to concussion fears.

“I think he hit his head first, neck, obviously the shoulder as well. He went for a scan because once he got back, he felt dizzy, so he was lying down. Yes, the icing was there for the shoulder, but he felt that he wasn’t stable.

"So we took him for a scan in that situation, so we requested [a concussion sub]. Obviously, it’s at the match referee’s and umpire’s discretion, so they allowed Shardul [Thakur].

“Mitch will be disappointed that his batting power is matched to Shardul Thakur, but it is what it is. But hopefully it’s not too bad. Once he comes back, we will have a look at it,” MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene informed after the match.

Anyway, New Zealand will be happy that their star performer has recovered in time ahead of a three-game series, which is going to test them not a little.

New Zealand squad to play England: Tom Latham (captain), Tom Blundell (wicketkeeper), Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will O'Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears (travelling reserve), Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Kane Williamson, Will Young

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prateek Srivastava
Prateek Srivastava is a senior sports journalist having been in the profession for two decades now. He started his print career with the India Today Group and later also worked for the Asian Age. In 2009, sensing the wind of change, he switched to the digital media and joined Mobile ESPN. There, he covered the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 Hockey World Cup as a venue reporter. He did plenty of voice-over work too, over there. After leaving Mobile ESPN, Prateek went on to work for Cricketnext, Gocricket and Cricbuzz. At Gocricket (Times Internet Limited), he covered the 2014 T20 World from Bangladesh. There he also received a team leadership award, given at the end of the month. Prateek has also covered the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, this time working for Sportz Interactive. He also worked for Chinese giants Alibaba over two years and led their ""Short News"" content team at UC Browser. While cricket is Prateek’s expertise, he has also done a lot of golf. In fact, he has covered India’s first two European Tour events back in the late noughties. He has also done extensive writing on football having been associated with the Indian Super League for three seasons. Finally, Prateek is a literature aficionado and swears by Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and when he doesn’t joke, he is usually quiet and at work.Read More

Mitchell Santner

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