Tim Southee
Tim Southee (Image Credits: Twitter)

New Zealand pacer Tim Southee in a recent interview admitted that while the Indian openers, Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw may be inexperienced, but they have enough quality to decide the match. India will play New Zealand in the upcoming two-match Test series starting from 21st February.

While the Indian opening partnership of Agarwal and Shaw has failed to dazzle as of yet, they were on the receiving end of some praise from Southee, nonetheless.

Considering the fact that India has lost Rohit Sharma to injury and KL Rahul wasn’t chosen for the Test squad, the Men in Blue have pinned their hopes on Shaw and Agarwal who are both relatively inexperienced but are still ‘classy’ as per Southee, whom they will face on Friday.

Tim Southee, India, New Zealand, India tour of New Zealand 2020
Indian openers, Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal (Image Credits: Twitter)

Tim Southee talks Indian opening partnership, Basin Reserve Ground and much more:

The 31-year-old who has had a successful couple of matches against India in the ongoing tour reflected on the Indian opening partnership, whilst also speaking about the impact of home conditions.

“They are missing a couple of guys due to the injury but there are plenty guys who are talented and capable of stepping up when required. They had a good outing in Hamilton. Although, they may be inexperienced but at the same time, they are class players,” Southee told PTI during a brief interaction on Wednesday.

Tim Southee, India, New Zealand, India tour of New Zealand 2020
Tim Southee (Credits: Twitter)

Talking about the ground of Basin Reserve, and how it favours New Zealand, the right-arm speedster gave a slight warning to India.

He said, “Obviously, these are home conditions and it favours us. But there are a number of things that you need to do well in here at the Basin Reserve and India will have to get used to it in the next three days.”

India are currently sitting atop the point tally of the ICC World Test Championship, with 360 points, having won all seven of their matches, while New Zealand, on the contrary, have just 60.

When quizzed if the Black Caps, will respect team India regarding their dominance in Test cricket, Southee just said that he expects an evenly contested game.

“It’s a completely different format. India have played great Test cricket for a long period of time so it should be an evenly contested Test series.” 

The first Test of the two-match series between India and New Zealand kicks off on 21st February (Friday), at Wellington.

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