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Tim Southee, the New Zealand legend, has been named as the captain of the Sharjah Warriorz during the International League T20 (ILT20) 2025 season. Southee, who is known for his skill to swing the ball and use variations, is also a hard-hitting lower-order batter. He has captained New Zealand in a variety of forms throughout his career. The 36-year-old former cricketer has appeared in ten seasons of the Indian Premier League, representing the Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, and Royal Challengers Bangalore, along with playing in The Hundred and The Blast in the United Kingdom.
While Tim Southee is mainly known for his ability to use the new balls exceptionally, he has also improved his ability to bowl cross-seam deliveries along with off-cutters over time. Southee's accuracy and variations in bowling helped him create a great impression on the world stage. The New Zealander made his debut to an international career at the age of 19, and further made his debut in T20I cricket before moving on to play his first ODI and Test matches for his country.
"It will be an exciting time: Tim Southee on becoming captain of Sharjah Warriorz
Tim Southee is quite excited to team Sharjah Warriorz and believes that the result would be fruitful in the ILT20 2025 season. He said, as per the Times of India, “The Sharjah Warriorz have a fantastic squad in place, with plenty of hard-hitting batters and smart and skilful bowlers. It will be a really exciting time to captain and be around such a talented bunch of cricketers. My conversations with the team management have also been very fruitful so far, and we are confident of having a good season. I am excited to join and lead the team.”
Meanwhile, the Sharjah Warriorz team COO, Kshemal Waingankar, also feels that Southee's experience towards T20 games will help the team during the next ILT20 season. “We, at Capri Sports, are very excited to have Tim Southee join us as captain in the Sharjah Warriorz squad. His work ethic and dedication to the game of cricket is second to none and as his tenacity to keep fighting, aligns perfectly with the Warrior spirit. Southee not only bolsters but also adds depth and experience to our squad for the upcoming edition of the ILT20. We are confident that his dynamic style of leadership will kick start a new era for us,” he said.
In his career, Southee played 126 T20Is and took 164 wickets, at an economy of around eight, at a strike rate of 16.7. His best bowling figures in T20Is is 5/18. The ILT20 Season 3 is set to kick off from January 11, and Sharjah Warriorz play their first match on January 12 against Gujarat Giants.
