He was named as the full-time captain of the Blackcaps in December 2022 after Kane Williamson's resignation from the post. He led New Zealand in 12 Tests so far and captained the side in Bangladesh and Pakistan so far in his stint. The sub-continent tour will be a big Test for his captaincy and if he will lead the side well under difficult and spin-friendly conditions. "Yeah, I think if you look at it as a whole six Test matches in the in the subcontinent, it's exciting. Great challenge for the side. We have had some guys have been playing cricket. Some guys have been a part of the camps we have had here in New Zealand. So yeah, we're looking forward to getting snuck into some Test cricket. It is an exciting chunk for the Test side, and I guess the Test fans to get in behind the side for nine test matches in a in a short space of time," Southee said in a video posted by the official account of New Zealand cricket. A big task for captain Tim Southee New Zealand will be touring India to play a one-off Test match against Afghanistan at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground, which starts on September 9. They will travel to Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series against the island nation, starting September 18. Their biggest challenge will be the three-match Test series against India from October 16. New Zealand picked five spin-bowling options as they named their squad for their Only Test against Afghanistan. Fast bowlers Will O'Rourke and Ben Sears are set to play their maiden overseas Tests, having already represented the national team in whites. "Yeah, they are still new to the red ball format, but we have seen in the other formats what a side they can be. Just recently in the T20 World Cup last year in the One-Day World Cup. They have had some great success in those other two formats, and I'm sure as a country, they want to have success in the longer format as well." Southee also opened up about his preparations for the upcoming series. "Yeah, everybody is good, had a bit of a mix between breaks and obviously went over to the UK. I played in The Hundred and had a couple of camps here as well. So I'm looking forward to getting back to some Test cricket." New Zealand squad Tim Southee (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (vc), Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Kane Williamson, Will Young