New Zealand pacer Tim Southee on Thursday said that it is not easy to bowl short balls on slow surfaces, but he admitted that the tactic was under-employed while bowling to Shreyas Iyer in the first Test.
The second Test between India and New Zealand will begin on Friday at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. The game will see the return of India skipper Virat Kohli, however, his comeback has left some selection dilemma for the hosts.
"Those are decisions which Kane Williamson and Gary Stead have to make in the next 24 hours. We have not been able to train because of the weather, they will have a look at the wicket this afternoon and then a decision can be made but we are yet to take a look at the wicket," said Southee while replying to anquery during a virtual press conference.
Whenasked whether more short-ball tactic could be employed while bowling to Shreyas Iyer, Southee said: "He played exceptionally well, the way he played on his debut and with that confidence, it was brilliant. I guess we have a little more information on him now. It is not that easy to target with short ball on such slow surfaces. We will look at our plans, although he scored some runs, India has a quality lineup."
Talking about the inclement weather in Mumbai, Southee said: "I guess the wickets has been under the covers, hopefully, Gary and Kane can have a look at this wicket this afternoon. We were not expecting rain but this is something we need to adapt to it."
Squads: India: Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Suryakumar Yadav, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha, KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Md. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Blundell, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Will Somerville, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, Will Young.
( With inputs from ANI )
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