As the two sides – India and New Zealand gear themselves up for the ultimate clash tomorrow, the World Test Championship Final, we preview the game by providing our insights.

Preparations : –

The two sides have had a contrasting build-up to the big game. New Zealand are coming at the back of a historic series win against England in their home conditions. They tested quite a lot of their reserves in the two matches and got the opportunity to select a 15-man squad after reviewing the performances of their players.

Meanwhile, Team India arrived at the venue around two weeks back and since then, they have played an intra-squad match simulation game apart from training in the nets, of course.

The Venue : –

The Ageas Bowl in Southampton has hosted 6 test matches since 2001. The ground was the venue for three test matches last year when England faced the West Indies and Pakistan in bio-secure environments.

India have played two tests here and lost on both occasions. On the other hand, the kiwis do not have any experience of playing test cricket at this venue.

Average First Innings Total – 337

Won batting First – 2

Won bowling first – 1

Draws – 3

Team Combinations : –

India have already announced their playing XI while it seems that we will have to wait until the toss to know about New Zealand’s side for the Final.

India’s XI – Virat (C), Rohit, Gill, Pujara, Rahane, Pant (WK), Jadeja, Ashwin, Shami, Ishant, Bumrah.

The Indian side has stuck to the five-bowler theory as they include both the spinners and the three most experienced and seasoned fast bowlers that were available to them. There was a great chance that Siraj could feature in the XI but the trio of Bumrah, Ishant and Shami have had successful tours of England and Australia back in 2018 and to go with an experienced, tried and tested bowling combination in a final as big as the WTC is not wrong.

Yes, the weather forecast shows rain on all the five days but as the test match progresses the wicket is likely to provide some aid to the spinners if the conditions get drier. Ashwin would have been a direct selection considering that there are as many as 4 left-handers in the NZ batting line-up and we all know how lethal Ashwin can be against the lefties. As far as Jadeja’s selection is concerned, his batting abilities may have played more of a role since he holds the highest average (55.57) amongst Indian batsmen since 2018.

Possible New Zealand XI – Latham, Conway, Williamson, Taylor, Nicholls, Watling (WK), Ajaz / De Grandhomme, Jamieson, Wagner, Southee, Boult.

The New Zealand line-up is more or less settled except for the number seven position which will be a toss-up between the left-arm spinner, Ajaz, and the all-rounder De Grandhomme. Even if the conditions are overcast and helpful for the quicks, a side needs to play at least one spinner because they will have a role to play in the second innings of the test.

Weather Forecast : –

There is rain predicted on all five days of the test match which means that a stipulated number of overs might not be bowled and the game could head towards the reserve day on June 23rd.

What they said : –

“There is lot of hard work done over a long period of time to find ourselves here in the first final (of WTC).” – Kane Williamson, NZ Captain.

“We are playing in quest of excellence and understand who we are as a team.” – Virat Kohli, India Captain.

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