India secured their ICC World Test Championship berth after they defeated England in the fourth Test match at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad by an innings and 25 runs and sealed the series 3-1.
The Virat Kohli-led team will face New Zealand at Ageas Bowl, Southampton in the final of the WTC from June 18 to June 22.
Former Indian batsman and now commentator VVS Laxman feels it is going to be a challenging final for India as the English conditions will suit New Zealand as there will be swing and seam on offer.
Meanwhile, New Zealand had defeated India by 2-0 in their home conditions when the Virat Kohli-led team had toured back in 2020. On the other hand, India completely dominated the league stage of the WTC as they finished with 520 points after 12 wins from 17 Test matches. Thus, they had a PCT of 72.2% and thus topped the table.
New Zealand, on the other side, ended with 420 points and with a PCT of 70%. The Kiwis savoured most of their success in their home conditions while India went on to stun Australia in Australia as they won the Border-Gavaskar series by 2-1.
“It is going to be a challenging final against New Zealand because the conditions will suit the New Zealand team. It will be helping the seam bowlers; there will be a lot of swing and seam movement on offer, and I feel whichever side bats well will eventually win that final,” said Laxman while talking to Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
“India have got depth and experience in their batting line-up, and I will definitely back India, and it’s a great opportunity for India and Virat Kohli to lift the ICC World Test Championship Trophy,” added VVS Laxman.
Meanwhile, players like Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara are not part of India’s limited-overs side. The final of the WTC will be like a final of the World Cup and it will be a great opportunity for these players to lift the coveted trophy. In fact, VVS Laxman was also never part of India’s World Cup squad despite playing 134 Test matches and 86 ODIs for the national team.
“It’s a great initiative by the ICC because over so many years, especially in my career, I never played a World Cup, and I played a lot of Test matches. This is an opportunity for the Test cricketers to get a trophy in their hands,” said Laxman.
Laxman added that the Indian team deserved to be in the final of the WTC as they have been consistent in the last couple of years in all kinds of conditions.
“I think this is the perfect start and great start for Team India also because at one time they were dominating in all the series they played except the series in New Zealand, but suddenly because of Covid, the rules changed. But the way they played against England, they deserve to be in the final,” observed VVS Laxman.
