The New Zealand cricket team is set to begin their ICC World Cup 2023 campaign on October 5 against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India.
The encounter between the Black Caps and England will be a recap of the iconic 2019 World Cup final where the latter emerged winners on “boundary count” after 612 balls — including the super over — couldn’t decide the winner.
As the mega event closes in, despite their great performance in warm-up matches, the Kiwis’ worries increased as their vice-captain and a crucial member of the team Tim Southee still hasn’t recovered from his thumb injury.
Southee, 34, dislocated his thumb in the final One Day International (ODI) against England right before the World Cup after which the reports stating that the right-armer would miss the mega event emerged.
However, after undergoing a minor thumb surgery, the pacer was declared fit by the medical panel of New Zealand but he is still not match fit.
As the Black Caps prepare to take on England on October 5, the Northland-born pacer stated that he is getting used to bowling with pain.
“It's still a bit tender where obviously there's a bit of scarring and a bit of numbness around where the plate is. So I guess it's just (about) getting used to that. And getting back into some bowling. Haven't done a lot of bowling over the last couple of weeks, so it's about getting your loads back up as well as managing the thumb,” Southee was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"It's been a crazy couple of weeks. A bit of a race against time to get here, but managed to get here and it's a great place to come. It's an awesome place to come and play cricket, let alone being a World Cup.
“(The injury was) something new. Haven't done an injury like this before. I guess when something like that happens so close to a world event, your mind starts to drift towards that.
“With the limited time we had, I guess sitting down and working out the fastest recovery time, and the route back was to chuck some screws in it and a plate and hope for the best.
“Everyone I've dealt with and the process has been brilliant to get me to this stage. So fingers crossed we can carry on the recovery process and be right in time,” Southee added.
New Zealand Squad for World Cup
Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.
