Black Caps not speaking about potential to be second in world Test rankings

New Zealand paceman Tim Southee says sweeping Sri Lanka in the upcoming Test series and moving up to second in the world rankings would be nice recognition, but the team hasn’t spoken about it.

If the Black Caps were to win both of the Tests against Sri Lanka, they would leapfrog South Africa and England into second behind India following the historic 2-1 series win over Pakistan in the UAE.

“It would be a very nice way to get recognised for the way we’ve played over a number of years,” Southee told media at the Basin Reserve, where the first Test starts on Saturday.

“(It) hasn’t been discussed as yet, we know it’s a new challenge, a new team, all our energy is going into the next week or so here in Wellington.”

“If we our do job right then those little rewards like rankings take care of themselves.”

The first Test starts in Wellington on Saturday with the series concluding in a Boxing Day Test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.