Captain Tim Southee pleased with New Zealand’s balance for Sri Lanka challenge

New Zealand haven’t played enough a Test match in the last six months. They were slated to play Afghanistan in a one-off Test in Greater Noida but that was called off due to rain and wet outfield.

Next, the Tim Southee-led side will be playing a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, three against India and lastly against England at home. Ahead of that, the 35-year-old decided to focus on the positives. The pacer noted that the players got enough time to spend with each other and bond well.

Speaking about the upcoming Sri Lanka series, he stated that they have a very balanced squad and have all the bases covered. The Northland-born cricketer added that they have got quality spinners like Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel. Besides, they also have Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell as other spin options. 

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“I think historically here, Galle in particular, spin has played a pretty big part. But as pace bowlers if you can come here and do well, that's a tough challenge but a very rewarding challenge. You look at the balance of squad, we've got specialist spinners, we've got guys at the top of the order that can offer spin options, as well as four quality seam bowlers that offer different options as well,” Southee was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

I think we've got a number of bases covered: Southee

Furthermore, Time Southee observed that the surface in Galle historically favours the spinners and expects the trend to continue. He added that New Zealand pacers are ready to do well and mentioned that they won’t hesitate to change personnel if things don’t work for them in the first Test.

“I think we've got a number of bases covered, I guess it's just figuring out what balance is the right one to go in with in these conditions. And that can change from the first match to the second match, and then obviously when you go to India it could change again. So I think it's about having a squad that can cover all bases,” he added.