Southee calls “hunger to get better” key behind his away success in recent years

New Zealand’s veteran fast bowler Tim Southee put on a great show on the second day of the first test against India to pick up a well-deserved fifer for his team. It was his 13th five-wicket haul in overall test cricket and 3rd against India. Due to his stellar performance and knack of taking wickets in regular intervals, the hosts were bundled out for just 345 runs on board.

Talking about his fifer, the Kiwi pacer said at the end of the day, “I have been fortunate to come to this part of the world as a youngster. Learnt a lot from those trips early on in my career,” reports PTI. He further added that his determination and passion for representing the country pushes him to become a better bowler.

This passion that Southee talked about was evident from the fact that on the same wicket where Indian pacers struggled to get a single wicket, Southee managed to pick up five. It is always a tough ask for pace bowlers to pick up a wicket in the subcontinent’s slow pitches, but Southee is one of those bowlers who blossoms in away conditions. And it is his knack of picking wickets by bowling in the right channel and making the old ball move has made him the away bowler with the best bowling average since 2018. Southee leaps past Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ishant Sharma to achieve this feat.

The talking point of his fantastic performance was that he was seen limping off-field on day one due to muscle stiffness. However, the pacer put on a phenomenal show on the second day to claim his fifer.