New Zealand pacer Tim Southee has credited his ability to adapt quickly to foreign conditions and honing his craft with the old ball for his stellar overseas success in the last three years.
On Friday, November 26, Southee took his 13th five-wicket haul in his 80th Test, as he returned with the stunning figures of 5/69 to help New Zealand bowl out India for 345 on Day 2 of the ongoing first Test of the two-match Test series at Green Park in Kanpur.
The Indian seamers have been struggling to get breakthroughs in their own home conditions in the ongoing first Test, but Southee used the crease brilliantly and extracted swing both with the new and old ball on a slow and low pitch to trouble the hosts, taking 5 wickets, and the pacer said the experience of playing in India helped him bowl the way he did.
Southee said after the second day's play, “I have been fortunate to come to this part of the world as a youngster. Learned a lot from those trips early on in my career.”
Talking about his success over the past three years, the 32-year-old said: “Like I said, just the hunger to get better. Each time you go and represent your country and looking at different ways to learn and get better throughout as well. The main skill is swinging the new ball, but a lot more training with the older ball and looking at different ways to take wickets (over the past three-four years,) and same here in the subcontinent conditions.”
He further opened up about the significant improvement in his average with the old ball.
Southee explained, “I'm not too sure exactly. But maybe it's just a shift I made without really really knowing but obviously training and working a lot harder with an older ball. So just that shift that training because you end up bowling with the old ball more and when it swings I think that's my main skill. It's just about asking tough questions for long periods of time.”
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On New Zealand performance on Day 2 in Kanpur, Southee said: “It was a great day for us and we knew we probably had to make early inroads with the new ball, slightly harder, and the two guys (Iyer and Jadeja) that were playing nicely. Asked to bowl first, it was a pretty solid performance. The way our openers have gone about, it's been exceptional. We've come to terms with what Tom Latham can do but for someone like Will Young who hasn't played any cricket all this while since the World Test Championship final, for him to go out and play the way he's played, it's been great to watch as well.”
The pacer also feels the spinners will have a big role to play in the ongoing Test series.
He signed off by saying, “Spin is going to play a massive part throughout the series like it does in this part of the world. But our seamers have been been a pillar for this side for a long time. The way Kyle has taken up to Test cricket, very pleased to see him bowling first time in this part of the world. To be able to bowl the way he did is great signs for us as well.”
(With PTI Inputs)
