Tim Southee

With all kinds of swing in his repertoire, Tim Southee has shown significant promise since his breakthrough into the national frame of New Zealand and has taken over the mantle of New Zealand's premier bowler. The Kiwis have been fortunate enough to have plenty of swing bowlers at their disposal and the duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee have been a blessing for them paving a path to their team's success in Test cricket.

The tall right-arm fast bowler was born on 11th December 1988 in Whangarei in Northland and started his cricketing career by making his T20 debut for Northern Districts during the 2006–07 State Twenty20 season. Later in the year, he made his List A and first-class debuts for the Northern Districts and his performances earned him a call-up to the national side for his T20I debut against England making him the youngest debutant for NZ in the shortest format of the game.

After this series, Southee represented New Zealand at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup where he was the second-highest wicket-taker with 17 scalps and was also named 'Player of the Tournament'. In March 2008, he made his Test debut in the home series against New Zealand. Entering the big stage as a teenager, he showed very few nerves as he ripped through England's top order in the first innings on debut, grabbing a five-wicket haul. He also proved his value with the bat by smashing 77 off just 40 balls in the second innings and became the first player in Test history to hit nine sixes on debut.

In the same year, he also made his ODI debut claiming 16 wickets in his initial six games. Southee has appeared for multiple franchises in the Indian T20 League including Chennai, Mumbai, and Bangalore. He was picked up by the Kolkata franchise in 2021 but despite playing just three games that season, he was re-signed in the 2022 mega auction.

With an improved role in the side, Southee was retained ahead of the 2023 Indian T20 League and will look to carry his international form into this competition. He relies on his outswing with the new ball to trouble the batters and later in the innings he uses clever variations to keep the batters in check. With the bat, he can provide able support and get his side some quick runs lower down the order.