Tim Southee's World Cup Roller Coaster

The World Cup hype is growing with each passing day. Each World Cup holds a special memory for every cricketer and Tim Southee is no different. For him though, World Cup Cricket serves as a memory of where he stood in his career with each passing tournament. At 22 he played in his first World Cup in 2011. His international career was three years old and his partnership with Trent Boult had reached full flow yet.

A raw Southee though impressed straightaway with 18 wickets in his first World Cup, in the subcontinent where conditions are not as favourable. He was their best bowler in the Semi-Finals where they lost to Sri Lanka but made a mark as one of their two best bowlers for the next decade.

In his second World Cup, the Trent Boult-Tim Southee pair was clearly leading the pack and he was at the peak of his powers. Tim Southee, with swinging conditions around, was unplayable. He blew teams away, and was clinical against England in particular taking seven wickets in a game to highlight his dominance in one of the best spells in World Cup Cricket. After 2015 though Tim Southee had a drop in white-ball form. He went from one of their best bowlers to a questionable choice, particularly in T20s.

There were calls briefly to try other bowlers with Tim Southee just hanging in. The rise of Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson gave New Zealand more variety in their attack as they found another new-ball bowler and a bowler who could rattle batters with raw pace. By the 2019 World Cup, Tim Southee was not a sure starter. He was more a horses for courses pick, coming in when conditions were helpful or in case of an injury to one of the other bowlers.

As a result, in 2019, Tim Southee only played one game, which did not go so well for him. Leading up to 2023 he now comes back to the sight of his first World Cup. With three heart-breaks and a dip in form in between, Tim Southee comes back a seasoned campaigner, with the stomach to fight, and with the potential of leading the side in Kane Williamson’s absence.

In the 12-year period between his first World Cup and now, Tim Southee has added a lot of new weapons to his armory. Focusing largely on outswing, Tim Southee was a great exponent of Reverse Swing as well. With swing disappearing in white-ball Cricket though, Tim Southee had to find other ways to stay relevant.

He started using the crease more and also added the inswinger to his arsenal. His inswinger, hidden well in his action, fetched a change in results along with the cutters and knuckleballs. His accuracy is another thing that he has worked on which has allowed Tim Southee to hit the uncomfortable spot for batters frequently.

His experience in Asia has been a factor as well. Southee was a part of the IPL for nearly ten years and has visited India for a handful of tours and multi-national events, touring India 6 times in total. Last time India hosted the T20 World Cup though, Southee stayed on the sidelines with New Zealand turning to raw pace.

Southee now comes as captain and has been New Zealand’s best white-ball bowler in recent times. He warmed up well with a strong performance against UAE and Southee will now reunite with Trent Boult, who returns to the national set-up after nearly a year. With Boult returning and New Zealand having a growing variety of fast bowlers selection will be tough, but Tim Southee has made it very hard to ignore him as he continues to evolve.