Cricket
India v/s New Zealand World Test Championship Final: Preview, Teams, When and Where to Watch, Live Streaming
After two years, a global pandemic and a truncated group stage later, the World Test Championship (WTC) Final will kick-start tomorrow at the Rose Bowl in Southampton tomorrow.
Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli (Source: ESPN cricinfo)
After two years, a global pandemic and a truncated group stage later, it finally comes down to this. The World Test Championship (WTC) Final will kick-start tomorrow at the Rose Bowl in Southampton tomorrow. Two of the top-ranked test teams in the ICC World Rankings, New Zealand and India, will go against each other for the grand prize of INR.12 crore and the prestigious Test Mace.
Preview
The match holds a lot of significance for both India and New Zealand. Both the teams have had a choke-choke affair with the knockout matches in the ICC tournaments in the recent past. The skippers of both the teams, Virat and Kane Williamson, will be eager to brush off the ghosts of knockout matches and lead their nation to glory. While India's last ICC trophy came during the 2013 Champions Trophy, New Zealand's last and only ICC event win was way back in the 2000-2001 season when they lifted the ICC Knockout Trophy.
The two sides are equally matched. Both have a very strong pace attack and a bit fragile batting unit. If New Zealand has the red hot form of Devon Conway, India has the x-factor of Rishabh Pant. While New Zealand skipper, Williamson, has struggled for runs away from home, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has not scored an international century in very long. On the other hand, if India's ever-dependable Cheteshwar Pujara averages less than 30 in the WTC, then New Zealand opener Tom Latham has struggled to convert his starts off late.
With such equally balanced sides taking on each other, it all will come down to the one who handles the pressure better over the next five or six days.
The pitch at Rose bowl usually supports the quick bowlers, and with constant rain, interruptions expected, the pacers are expected to have a great time. But, England is currently undergoing a slight heatwave, meaning the pitches can dry and crack up quickly and might keep spinners in the game.
Expected XI
The playing eleven seems fairly settled for India, with all the batsmen walking right into the team. Though Shubman Gill was scratchy in the IPL, a strong outing in the Intra-squad game means he will open along with Rohit Sharma. The only real point of concern for India will be whether to play a pure batsman in Hanuma Vihari, who made his international debut when India toured England last time, or prefer the all-round prowess of the ever-improving Ravindra Jadeja. There are chances of Mohammed Siraj getting a game along with Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, but the team is expected to prefer the experience of Ishant Sharma over the youngster.
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Much like India, New Zealand too has a settled batting order with skipper Kane Williamson walking into the eleven after missing the last game due to an injury. Wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who will retire after this game, is also expected to slot in place of Tom Blundell. The only point of debate for the New Zealand team management will be to finalise if they want to go with a four-man pace attack of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson and Neil Wagner or play a spinner in the form of the impressive Ajaz Patel instead of one of the quick bowlers.
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling (wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee/ Ajaz Patel, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult
Complete Teams
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Hanuma Vihari, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling(w), Colin de Grandhomme, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Will Young, Tom Blundell
When to Watch?
The World Test Championship Final will start at 3:30 pm IST tomorrow, i.e. 18th June 2021.
Where to Watch?
The World Test Championship Final will be broadcasted by the Star Sports Network in multiple languages on television.
Live Stream
If you are unable to follow the match live on television, you can stream it online on Disney+ Hotstar.
