"Lot more training with the older ball and looking at different ways to take wickets" - New Zealand pacer Tim Southee's recipe for success in the subcontinent

New Zealand rode on Tim Southee's five-wicket haul in the morning session to bowl out India for 345 runs. The Kiwi openers then shared an unbeaten 129-run stand to put the Kiwis on top at the end of Day 2 of the first Test in Kanpur.

On a wicket where the Indian bowlers failed to get a breakthrough in the 57 overs played, Southee broke into India's batting with ease. He swung both the new and old ball to trouble the Indian batters and give New Zealand a stronghold in the Test match.

The veteran, who is on his third tour of India, cited rigorous training with old balls and the appetite to succeed as a recipe for his stellar run on subcontinent wickets. Addressing the press at the end of play on Day 2, Tim Southee said:

"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. Like I said, just the hunger to get better. Each time you go and represent your country and and looking at different ways to learn and get better throughout as well."

The New Zealand paceman added:

"The main skill is swinging the new ball, but a lot more training with the older ball and looking at different ways to take wickets (over the past three four years), and same here in the subcontinent conditions."

Tim Southee, who picked up his 13th five-wicket haul in 80 Test matches, has two fifers in India and boasts the best bowling average by an away pacer since 2016.

The 32-year-old pacer also overcame a groin injury overnight to deliver a superb spell in the Kanpur Test. Southee stressed that doing the right thing over a period of time is the main reason behind the significant improvement in his average.

"I'm not too sure exactly. But maybe it's just a shift I made without really really knowing but obviously training and working a lot harder with with an older ball. So just that shift that training because you end up bowling with the old ball more and when it swings I think that's my main skill. It's just about asking tough questions for long periods of time," Southee said.

Tim Southee broke a 121-run stand between Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer in the first session of Day 2. He breached Jadeja's defense before dismissing centurion Iyer, Axar Patel and Wriddhiman Saha to finish with figures of 5/69.

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"Asked to bowl first, it was a pretty solid performance" - Tim Southee on New Zealand's first innings display

Southee and Kyle Jamieson shared eight wickets while Ajaz Patel dismissed two batsmen to dismiss India for 345 runs. A strong display from Tom Latham (50*) and Will Young (75*) then put New Zealand in control of the Test.

Southee said:

"It was a great day for us and we knew we probably had to make early inroads with the new ball, slightly harder, and the two guys (Iyer and Jadeja) that were were playing nicely. Asked to bowl first, it was a pretty solid performance. The way our openers have gone about, it's been been exceptional."

He went on to add:

"We've come to terms with what Tom Latham can do but for someone like Will Young who hasn't played any cricket all this while since the World Test Championship final, for him to go out and play the way he's played, it's been been great to watch as well," he added.

Despite a strong display from the pacers, Tim Southee is confident the spinners will play a decisive role later on in the Test match.

"Spin is going to play a massive part throughout the series like it does in this part of the world. But our seamers have been been a pillar for this side for a long time. The way Kyle [Jamieson] has taken up to Test cricket, very pleased to see him bowling first time in this part of the world. To be able to bowl the way he did is great signs for us as well," he concluded.

New Zealand will hope to post a daunting first innings total and secure a crucial lead to put India on the backfoot in the ongoing Test.