Tim Southee fighting to rediscover form - and retain his place

By Kris Shannon

The last time Tim Southee delivered a red ball in Bengaluru, he recorded the best bowling figures of a 102-test career.

The next 12 years brought some change: the Black Caps slumped to a modern nadir in South Africa; Southee was integral to a revival that produced a world championship; the veteran seamer eventually succeeded Kane Williamson as skipper; then he resigned the role amid a prolonged battle for form.

Now, two weeks after being replaced by Tom Latham, Southee returns to M Chinnaswamy Stadium at risk of another change: being dropped by his former vice-captain.

If Latham and Gary Stead assess conditions as conducive to only two seamers, it’s difficult to imagine Southee retaining his place in the tourists’ XI ahead of Matt Henry.

But both captain and coach remain adamant Southee can return to somewhere near his best and, if no chance is granted to replicate that 7-64 haul in 2012, an opportunity to prove as much will soon come.

“From my conversations with Tim, he recognises he hasn’t been at his best, but there’s certainly no desire to not get back there,” said Stead. “He’s working hard in the background, he’s doing everything he can to try and rediscover that little thing he feels is missing.

“There’s a couple of little technical points that Tim is working on with [bowling coach] Jake Oram. He’s looked back at quite a bit of video from previous years and times he’s played in India and had success. It’s just trying to rediscover that and find a little snap back into his action.

“It’s no lack of desire and no lack of hard work. He’s certainly doing everything he can to rediscover him being back at his best.”

Southee turns 36 in December, the day after the second test against England is scheduled to end at the Basin Reserve, the teams rematching at a venue where in 2023 Southee enjoyed his best moment as skipper.

Since the end of a summer enlivened by that one-run victory, the seamer’s next eight tests reaped a paltry 12 wickets, while Henry collected 17 in his last two tests against Australia.

There should be room for both bowlers to begin a three-test home clash with England; now Southee is no longer on the selection panel, surely Scott Kuggeleijn’s three-test career has concluded.

For these three matches in India, however, it’s likely a different story.

Stead did point to the hosts including a seam trio during last month’s 2-0 series win over Bangladesh, though it’s more palatable to rely on two spinners when, like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, they boast 830 test scalps.

New Zealand will be led by Ajaz Patel playing in India for the first time since becoming the third player to take 10 wickets in an innings. But even considering the rapid development of Glenn Phillips, the tourists may be hesitant to ask the allrounder to shoulder a second spinner’s workload.

While the arrival of Ish Sodhi for the second and third tests could alter the equation, only an atypical pitch in Bengaluru would leave the Black Caps comfortable omitting Mitchell Santner.

The sole selection decision, then, comes down to Southee or Henry, with Will Young filling in for the injured Kane Williamson.

Stead said there had been no discussion about a seamer swap during the 2-0 defeat by Sri Lanka, believing the move “would have done more harm than good” while Southee retained the captaincy.

Now that both the captaincy and selection duties are out of his hands, Latham’s first big call will be whether to leave his longtime teammate out of the side.

Black Caps schedule:
1st test: October 16-20, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
2nd test: October 24-28, MCA Stadium, Pune
3rd test: November 1-5, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission