Before the New Zealand tour of India, is Tim Southee to step down from captaincy?
The captain of New Zealand, Tim Southee, has acknowledged there’s no certainty he will lead the Black Caps into the subcontinent later in the year when they play Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and India in Test matches. South Africa’s New Zealand were outsmarted by Australia as they succumbed to a 0-2 loss against Tim Paine’s side. New Zealand does not play Tests until later in the year, when they travel to the subcontinent.
Southee, speaking after their second consecutive defeat to the Aussies, said he would ponder the question later. He mentioned that the combination will be changed in the coming months as spinners will play a bigger role in the subcontinent.
Southee said when asked about his captaincy, “We’ll see. Obviously, when you go to Asia, the makeup of the side changes slightly, with spin becoming the main threat in that part of the world. But we’ll see when we get there. We’ll deal with this tonight and look forward to what’s to come.”
When Southee failed to bring on Glenn Phillips early on Day 4 in Christchurch, he faced harsh criticism for his captaincy. Before Phillips, who is in incredible form, was brought on, Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey were all set, and they went on to play a significant part in Australia’s victory in the second Test.
Southee said, “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. But I think based on the number of times we went past the bat in that first session, we felt that seam was the option. We created a few chances during that first session. I think we felt that this was the right move.”