Despite the confusion surrounding India’s ideal batting combination and the unsettled No. 4 spot, Southee, who has 210 wickets in 154 ODIs at an average of 33.46, believes the hosts have enough time to figure out a solution
Tim Southee at a city hotel yesterday. Pic/Satej Shinde
Ace New Zealand pacer Tim Southee believes India have a strong side with a number of good players and a fine mix of youth and experience, leading up to the World Cup. “It’s a strong Indian team... look at the IPL and the amount of quality players it produces every year. Whenever I’ve played India, it’s been a strong side. They’ve got a great mix between older experienced guys like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and young, exciting guys like Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill,” Southee, 34, said on the sidelines of the CEAT cricket rating awards.
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Despite the confusion surrounding India’s ideal batting combination and the unsettled No. 4 spot, Southee, who has 210 wickets in 154 ODIs at an average of 33.46, believes the hosts have enough time to figure out a solution. “India have a number of good players, and when you have so many good players, you have competition for spots. So, it’s hard to put down one name, but I’m sure from now till the World Cup they’ll figure out who their No. 4 batter is,” he said.
Given the number of injuries for Team India in the recent past and the lack of playing time for the full squad, Southee feels the Asia Cup is the perfect platform to bring the whole team together for enough match time. “It’s been tough for all teams with T20 cricket and juggling different formats and busy schedules, to have your side together for a long period of time, but I imagine that will change in the next couple of months. Every side will try to play as much cricket as they can together. And for India, there is no better place to have your team together than the Asia Cup,” Southee concluded.