Time for the inaugural World Test Championship final: India and New Zealand – two teams that have arrived at this juncture in contrasting manners.
New Zealand reached the summit first and needed some luck and heroics from India to ensure it was not a Trans-Tasmanian rivalry or repeat of the 2019 World Cup.
India leapfrogged Australia by beating them in their own den and England while punching their ticket to Southampton.
Gallons of ink have already been poured while singing paeans of young team India which braved all adversity and delivered a knockout punch to those mighty Aussies and pained Paine and his team where it hurt most.
Already a folklore when young turks of India stood up to the verbal barrage of the Aussies and emerged triumphant – but then that was almost six months back.
India, and the rest of the world, in the meantime had gone through another season of IPL and at the beginning of 2021 it was perceived that the dreaded coronavirus had left and sanity would be restored in the world.
But then the famous second wave arrived in India and boy, it was lethal.
The IPL had to be put on the shelf and India went through a series with England, yet again winning and quashing the English challenge. But again, that has been a tale of yesterday and focus is on Southampton, venue of the final bout.
The ICC came up with this brilliant concept of a WTC hoping to increase the popularity of cricket’s truest form.
Cracking contests ensured they did well, but the planning had a glitch. What was spread over a 27-36 month period will have its final context reduced to a single game.
Typically, finales are treated differently. Finales make for great interest and increased eyeballs. Organisers suddenly seemed in a hurry to end the championship.
An anti-climax, of sorts.
Kane Williamson (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
You play a multi-Test series with each other and the top two battle for a single Test and it’s winner takes all – seriously?
Teams battled for 2-2.5 years, reached the top and instead of them having a longer battle, viewers get a single game in June in the UK. If one of the teams has a bad day or even a single session, the final is virtually over.
The weather gods are always looming large in the UK in June.
India enters the final at a disadvantage to the Black Caps.
Indian fans have always accepted New Zealand and the West Indies as the two teams to cheer for if their own isn’t playing.
Indians have always had high regard for Kiwis and treat them as a cousin, if not immediate family. Yes, but in sports, you root for the second favourite when the first one isn’t playing and now the first one is, so sorry, Kiwis – these 1.3 billion supporters are only rooting for their own.
Washington Sundar. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)
New Zealand, on the other hand, have just played a two-Test series in England and if those results are any indication, they look prepared and have demonstrated their terrific bench strength, firing in unison like a well-oiled machine.
The Indians haven’t had a chance to be match ready and can satisfy themselves with intra-squad battles but everyone knows friendly games never match the intensity of the battle.
On paper, both teams look pretty solid and balanced. They look like the two best teams that came out of the tournament.
Batting seems to be strong for both, especially with the arrival of Devon Conway, who has emerged on the scene with a bang in the last few months and has shown temperament to be Test match ready.
Tom Latham has been Mr Reliable and Kane Williamson is so cool that a Kiwi English dictionary might call it cool as Kane instead of cucumber.
There’s Rockstar Rosco or Ross Taylor who was anointed by Martin Crowe as a successor and a few all rounders who have seen the Indians up close while plying their trade in IPL, followed by the battery of fast bowlers who form a very formidable attack.
Indian are no pushovers either, their batting line-up is as formidable as it gets and the return of their tweaking all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja lends maturity and balance to the team which was missing in Australia and at home against England.
They are no slouches in the fast bowling department either and can field their own to match the Kiwis’ attack.
The IPL has added number of sub-plots to the saga.
Boult going full guns blazing at his MI captain and his MI bowling buddy Jasprit Bumrah salivating himself to go against the Kiwis, or the tall Kiwi Kyle Jamieson trying to get his RCB captain out or the high number of Kiwi coaches and assistant coaches getting their players’ secrets out to help their nation add to their not-so-envious hardware cabinet.
One might wonder, this should make a 50-50 decision as we go into this. I would say no, this is 60-40 in favour of New Zealand.
There are three reasons which make me see New Zealand as slight favourites.
They just played two Tests in England; the Indians will play five after the WTC which doesn’t help here.
The Black Caps’ attack might be a bit better in the English conditions and third, India are not always the quick starters in a series.
They start slow always and pick up momentum from the second game in a series onwards.
The only issue here is this is a one-game series. One and done. No time to adjust.
Rankings wise, India finished at the top of the table but for once, New Zealand will start as favourites in this game.
In recent times, the Indians have shown only fools will write them off.
The young Indians are battle ready and raring to go. They are no longer the pushovers.
They won’t mind being called the underdogs and would love to prove the pundits wrong.
What is also fascinating is that the ICC has come up with another option that if the game ends in a draw or a tie, then both the teams will be joint winners. Talk about being politically correct.
As a fan of Test cricket, I can’t wait for the battle royale to begin in the land which gets the credit for inventing this beautiful game.
Let’s all hope and pray that the game is a winner.
In these trying times, everyone deserves to enjoy a good game of cricket and there isn’t a better sound than when the willow belts the leather – just ask a drummer or batter.
Micko
Roar Rookie
A desperate declaration might not be on though, as both sides share the trophy in case of a draw. So it genuinely depends on the attitudes of the captains and teams about how desperate they'll be to claim the trophy via an on field victory.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
The venue will suit NZ better. Any other country (aside from NZ itself), and India would be the favourite. Given the weather, though, a draw is likely unless either side tries a desperate declaration.
Tejas
Roar Rookie
Joint winners as per ICC
Tigerbill44
Roar Guru
A rookie question- what happens if the match ends in a draw.
Carlin
Roar Rookie
Good read. It is shaping up to be a good test. NZ have the edge with a better preparation but India have a class line up. Both teams have great squad depth and it will be interesting to see how the XIs shape up. If India choose both Jadeja and Ashwin and the weather is dry they could be key. NZ batsmen struggle against quality spin. Both sets of seamers will be wanting to bowl first. India struggle with NZs attack early in 2020 and if they do not adjust to moving ball that could set NZ up early if they bowl first. Lets hope the weather is not as bad as forecasted so there is a good amount of cricket played and a result. Hopefully a NZ one.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
NZ to beat India l don’t know why just a hunch!
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
Great article Tejas! There being more Indians than kiwis betting may be a factor, bookies sometimes like to minimise the potential loss. I don't even know whether this will be a bowl or bat first pitch, I rate those Indian spinners. Yes Indian and kiwi fans have a good history, I remember a very even series in NZ in the mid to late 90s when we were both very complementary about the other team. Especially Tendulkar, what a talent, even if our offspinner deliberately bounced him out at Hamilton!
Brian
Guest
I think a one-off final is entirely appropriate after a 2-2.5 year cycle have you never heard of the Olympics or FIFA World Cup. As for the game itself I hope NZ win only because India will probably win the next 20 in a row. Probably more people born in India this month then people in NZ. Hopefully its close and NZ can stay with India. Trent Boult to hit the winning runs in the shadow of Day 5. Realistically though I tip India winning by 9 wickets or 250 runs
Tejas
Roar Rookie
Thanks everyone for your feedback and encouragement. I am surprised that India is rated as a slight favorite. Toss is important and if NZ bowl first, they could be even more dangerous. Thats what Shane Bond said and Virat isn't the luckiest tossing captain around :-) I read what Tim Payne said and some of it was cover up or saving his face as he wants to put India on higher pedestal so he can justify Aussie's omission.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Excellent first up article Tejas. If all those Indians are rooting for their country then there will be more of them soon enough, say March 2022.
Paul
Roar Guru
as soon as I posted this, I vaguely recalled he was out, along with Santner. I left it in though because I really like Mitchell as a cricketer. Not sure why, but he ticks the boxes for me – has a crack, values his wicket, is a pretty useful bowler and more than useful fieldsman Have to agree about the mullet, certainly up there with the best from seventies all right
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
Mitchell has been jettisoned Paul. It would have to be he of the flowing locks, the best mud-flap the game has seen since the seventies... The same thought crossed my mind when I saw the forecast...
Paul
Roar Guru
Thanks for putting in your first article Tejas. It's good to see another enthusiastic cricket fan throwing in some interesting ideas for discussion. Of all the points you raise, the most interesting and relevant is the advantange the Black Cas have from playing a couple of good, hard games where all aspects of their cricket was tested. That will certainly stand them in good stead for this one-off match. I was reading another story this morning and Sportsbet had India at $2.45 and New Zealand at $2.55 to win. Not sure that means a lot but it suggests India, not New Zealand are slight favourites. If Tim Paine is accurate in his assessment, India will win comfortably assuming they play their best cricket and that's by no means certain, given the quality of the opposition. I gather from that same article, the weather could be the big spoiler, with heavy rain forecast for day 1 and some rain scheduled for each day of the Test. If that's the case, it could force India to go with just the one spinner and the Black Caps to leave out Patel and play either Mitchell or de Grandhomme and 4 quicks. The good thing about this final is, the best two teams right now in Test cricket will play each other. It doesn't matter how they got to the final, they each deserve their place and chance to become the first Test world champions.
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
I think the only team worried about the favourite versus underdog tag would be India. Virat has squashed any commentary around preparation already, although I tend to agree with the author in that the England series plays a little into the hands of the Black Caps. The Black Caps are used to generally being underdogs away from home and will just go about their business. It's how they operate. A lot will depend on the weather and pitch as to any perceived advantage but the author's point around the capability of the Indian attack is well made. This could come down to how the Indians play the swinging Duke and how the Black Caps apply themselves against world class spin. On paper, that misleading adage, the Indian batting line up is stratospheric, choc-full of talent with the blade. Their team is well-balanced and they recently won in Australia with a depleted team. They have high expectations both within and without, a fanbase and media exhorting triumph. While the Black Caps are here on merit they are still new to these pinnacles. The series victory against England would be enough to go home with you suspect. That recent cricket though also represents preparation and should add some belief. In short there are significant strengths in both teams along with deficiencies to exploit and this, over numerous sessions is what Test Cricket is all about, and why we love it. I reckon this is pretty much even-stevens and I can't wait for the toss...
Unders
Roar Pro
As an Indian fan- Indian media leads the hype for global outlets to portray this Indian team as the no.1 and an unbeatable force that can beat anyone anywhere. Sure they are good, highly talented and easily in the top 3-4 forces in Tests and limited overs. However many of them are forgetting perilous factors that put India at risk against this formidable Kiwi team- their ICC record against NZ is dire. That means nothing but looking at conditions and lineups; it will be interesting to see the deck at Southampton. If the current batch of Dukes balls are used ( swinging corners in the England series) and the deck has a hinge of green, than this Indian batting lineup will be under real threat ( not to say the Indian battery can't use the pitch)- Sharma has never been tested on swinging, overcast conditions in Tests. I wonder if he will be able to move his feet well against swing. Gill looks very short of runs and Pujara and Rahane will face a barrage from Wagner and Jamieson. Will be interesting to see Rohit against Boult, Southee, Jamieson and co given his and Kohl's shocking memory of facing Boult last time in England. If the Indians negotiate the Kiwis well, they are on track. For NZ to win, they need to ensure they get their spin right and their batsmen play with the same discipline as they did against England. One thing in India's favour is that England had no quality spinner against the Kiwis- they may be a bit light on spin prep and then face Aswhin and Jadeja at the Rose Bowl which can sometimes be a place of decent turn. Either way it makes a thrilling contest and I really don't mind who wins- if NZ win it is great for them as a nation with sheer depth whereas it is about time India won an ICC tournament.