Hello Friends,
November had been another cricket dominating month in the sporting world. Though most of the headlines were surrounding the excitement of IPL mega auction & Border-Gavaskar trophy between India & Australia, there were quite a few other series which took place this month.
Beginning of the month was definitely heartbreaking for Indian cricket fans as India lost the home test series 3-0 to New Zealand in a humiliating manner causing nation wide criticism. Though men in blue silenced their critics in an emphatic manner towards the end of the month by defeating arch rivals Australia in their own backyard in the 1st test match of the much awaited Border-Gavaskar trophy, their participation for a third consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) final is still a long way.
It was a good month for the Asian teams considering Pakistan men's team scripted a historic comeback against England in the home test series when they won the last two matches to clinch the series 2-1. Despite being surrounded by several controversies including resignation of white ball coach Gary Kirsten they went on to witness a rare ODI series victory on Australian soil. Though they were disappointed at the subsequent T20I series loss to the Aussies as well as a shocking loss to Zimbabwe in the 1st ODI, it would be interesting to see how they go forward under the new white ball coach Aaqib Javed especially in the Champions trophy scheduled on home soil early next year. Sri Lanka continued their resurgence under new coach Sanath Jayasuriya with yet another impressive performance during the white ball series against New Zealand. With a good enough chance to qualify for next year's WTC final, we may witness the best of Sri Lankan cricket during the upcoming test series against South Africa & Australia.
Bangladesh cricket continued to go on a downward spiral with test series loss to South Africa as well as ODI series loss to Afghanistan. It's high time all the stakeholders in the board take notice of the external factors that are affecting players' performance for a while now. England & West Indies continued working on rebuilding of their white ball units through a closely fought white ball series.
In the franchise leagues circle excitement continued through Women's Big Bash League(WBBL) back in Australia as well as Abu Dhabi T10 league. Indian domestic players were busy in showcasing their T20 cricket skills in Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. Indian sports lovers were also fortunate to witness some breathtaking action from our very own game of kabaddi in the Pro Kabaddi League.
This edition of Sports Talk Of The Month though features one of the most talented yet underrated cricketer who has decided to bid goodbye to red ball cricket after a stellar career in the format for more than a decade. He has been the second highest wicket taker in test cricket for his country so far besides being a prolific performer in white ball cricket too. Icing on the cake has been to get the opportunity to lead the team in both red ball as well as white ball formats. A perfect team man with exceptional mentoring skills. Any guesses? Let's find out.
Perfect Team Man Tim
Usually while talking about strong or top performing teams in men's cricket names that emerge consistently are India, Australia, England & to some extent even South Africa. But to my surprise lot of times we tend not to mention about a team which has been so consistent over the years across formats including ICC tournaments. New Zealand has been one of the most underrated teams in recent times despite some strong performances. Most of the times that less hype surrounding the team helps them perform better & surprise the cricket pundits. Same thinking comes up in case of their players too. Some of their top performers hardly feature in any of the discussions compared to their counterparts from other countries. One such consistent performer Tim Southee decided to bid good bye to red ball cricket after the upcoming home series against England. Coincidentally he made his test debut against the same opponents 16 years back.
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| Tim Southee Image Credit: Yellow Monkey/Blnguyen, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
What's special about Southee? Coming from a country with a population of nearly 5 million & widespread love for the game of rugby as the most preferred sport, it wouldn't have been easy for him to make a name for himself in cricket. He is a player who started his cricketing journey at a very young age showing lot of promise to be one of the greats of the game. It won't be exaggerated to say that he indeed concluding his test career as one of the stalwarts of New Zealand cricket. It's not just about the wickets he has taken over the years to help his team, the impact he had as an individual player as well as a leader speaks the volume about his character. He has been a proud achiever of several milestones throughout his career. More than that he will be remembered for being a perfect team player and an ideal helping hand to the younger generation. Being one of the fewest kiwis to captain the team across formats shows why his understanding of the game or leadership skills are so highly regarded.
Talking about his playing style he was never a quintessential fast bowler who would keep throwing thunderbolts every now & then. Rather he is more of a swing bowler who depends on his accuracy & variations to outplay the opponents. Along with his new ball heroics he worked on his death bowling skills too to excel in the shortest format of the game. Mostly talked about his bowling abilities, his batting skills lower down the order sometimes get overlooked. Not to forget that he made a mark during his test debut with the bat too when he hit a half century of just 29 balls which is a New Zealand record. Along with that being considered as one of the safest pair of hands while fielding makes him a complete package.
Talking about his selflessness & being a team man first he didn't hesitate to resign from test captaincy earlier this year after their series loss to Sri Lanka. During their last test assignments in Sri Lanka & India he was even ready to drop himself from the playing XI if needed considering they were supposed to face spin friendly conditions most often than not. He was seen taking up the captaincy role frequently in the absence of regular captain Kane Williamson. Even in the presence of Williamson too he has always been there on the field to help the captain taking tricky decisions as & when required. His lethal combination with Trent Boult & Neil Wagner has helped his team stage some outstanding performances in red ball cricket during the last decade.
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| Southee in red ball cricket Image Credit: Paul Burgess, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
He being a part of the winning campaign of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle back in 2021 is nothing but the justice done by cricketing God. A player of his stature shouldn't have ended his career without a global title. New Zealand cricket has produced several talented cricketers over the years & is still producing, but a player with consistency & longevity like Southee may not come again very soon. In the era of T20 it would be difficult to find players who would prioritize test cricket & serve the format for a long period of time with enormous success. It is still not clear how long he will continue to play white ball cricket where he had an equally stellar career. But the kiwi fans would definitely like to see one of their greatest ends his cricketing journey with few more memorable performances. We would hope that he will continue to inspire future generations by being involved with his beloved sport in some capacity post his retirement.
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