"He has not been at his best.....": NZ coach Stead on pacer Southee ahead of 1st India Test

Ahead of his side's three-match Test series against India, New Zealand head coach Gary Stead admitted that pace veteran Tim Southee indeed recognises that he has not been at his best as of late and is working hard in the background to "rediscover what is missing".

India will be hoping to continue their home domination as they take on New Zealand for a three-match Test series from October 16, starting with the first Test in Bengaluru. Southee will be heading into the series without the responsibilities of being a captain, having stepped down from the position following a big 2-0 loss to Sri Lanka away from home. Tom Latham will lead New Zealand during the three Tests against India. Southee's run has been poor in whites this year. There is a chance he could lose his place in the playing eleven, having taken just eight wickets at an average of 73.12 in six Tests, with best figures of 2/46.

The 35-year-old boasts of a solid record in India, having taken 20 wickets at an average of 28.70, with the best figures of 7/64 in five Tests. Speaking ahead of the series to the media as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Stead said, "From my conversations with Tim, he recognized he has not been at his best but there's certainly no desire to not get back there. He is working hard in the background, he is doing everything he can and trying to rediscover what that little thing he feels is missing. We have looked back at quite a bit of video from previous years and times he's played in India and had success. It is just trying to rediscover that and find a little bit, I guess you could call it snap back into his action," he said in the press conference.

If Southee misses the first Test, Kiwis will be heavily depleted without services of their most experienced stars, with Kane Williamson also set to miss the first Test as he has not recovered from the groin injury sustained during the Sri Lanka Tests.

India named a 15-player squad on Friday for the upcoming three Tests against New Zealand, beginning on October 16 in Bengaluru. For the Bangladesh Tests, with Rohit Sharma leading the side, India left the position of vice-captain vacant. But this time, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been officially appointed as Rohit's deputy for the three Tests.

India has been extremely dominant in Test conditions, having not lost a Test series at home since their 1-2 loss to England in 2012-13 season. Since then, India has won 18 successive Test series at home and are undefeated in a series since over 4,000 days. On the other hand, New Zealand suffered a 2-0 series whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka away from home recently. The Tim Southee-led side was blanked in the opening Test that went right down the wire with a 63-run defeat and lost the second Test by an innings and 154 runs.

India's squad for the three Tests against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.

Travelling reserves: Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna.

New Zealand squad: Tom Latham (C), Tom Blundell (WK), Michael Bracewell (1st Test only), Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi (2nd and 3rd Test only), Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Will Young. (ANI)