Tim Southee has been designated as the captain of a 15-man New Zealand team for their forthcoming tour including one test against Afghanistan in Noida, India and two World Test Championship matches in Sri Lanka. However, head coach Gary Stead is considering the possibility of Southee not participating in all three tests to manage the workload in challenging conditions.
The tour will begin with an only test versus Afghanistan on September 9th at Noida. After that, there will be two very important World Test Championship clashes against Sri Lanka; first one starting on September 18th and second one commencing on September 26th.
Last season, Southee, known for his swing bowling prowess, managed to secure only six wickets across four home tests. While taking into account the tough conditions prevailing there, New Zealand has included more fast bowlers into its squad. They are Matt Henry, Ben Spears and Will O’Rouke.
“Test tours to the subcontinent can ask some really tough questions of pace bowlers due to the nature of the pitches and the heat and humidity,” Stead said.
“The weather changes from day-to-day so we have to be prepared for that as well.”
“While Tim and me talked about it concerning our last foreign trip’s need for even distribution of workloads among pacemen who play with him in order to have better chances for winning,” added his Head Coach.
Kane Williamson is back together with Michael Bracewell who recently returned after being away from international cricket action for more than a year; both are part of this touring party.
At present New Zealand stands third in ICC World Test Championship rankings “I believe New Zealand is scheduled to visit INDIA again this October where it will play another series comprising of three tests” he stated.
This will be followed by England coming over November- December later this year when they shall have another three-test series at home.
Squad: Tim Southee (capt), Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
