Spinners will certainly hold the key to our success - Styris

'Daniel Vettori would be the key to our success' - Scott Styris © Getty Images

Despite having one of the world's leading fast bowlers in Shane Bond, Scott Styris, the New Zealand allrounder, feels that spinners would play a key role in the success of his team in the Champions Trophy tournament.

"Daniel Vettori would be the key to our success. We also have a young offie in Jeetan Patel. Spinners will certainly hold the key to our success in India," Styris told reporters after his team's practice at the Brabourne Stadium on October 11.

Styris, who bats in the top order and bowls effective medium pace, however, did not feel his team was rusty after a seven-month lay-off from the shortened form of the game. "Though we haven't played for a long time it doesn't mean we will be rusty. Six to seven of our players were playing county cricket in England. So it's not that we haven't played competitive cricket for long. It would mean we would be fresher than some other teams who have been playing continuously for more than three months now.".

Styris said the absence of Inzamam-ul Haq, serving a four-match ban for bringing the game into disrepute, would certainly be a big help for New Zealand in their quest to qualify for the semifinals from their group. "He is one of the most prolific batsmen in the world."

Only two teams from each of the two four-team groups will enter the last four and Pakistan and South Africa are big stumbling blocks in New Zealand's group. Styris, however, refused to put the tag his team as the underdogs in the tournament, which New Zealand won in 2000 in Nairobi when Chris Cairns played a blistering innings to take the game away from India.

"We are here not only hoping to do well, but to win the trophy," he stated emphatically. "We don't think of ourselves as underdogs. We can't help if we are perceived as the underdogs."