India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Wednesday (February 3) said New Zealand played really well and deserved to be in the final of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship, but Team India isn’t thinking about the final at the moment especially when they are to play England.
New Zealand on Tuesday become the first team to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final after Australia postponed the Test tour of South Africa and now they will either face India, England, or Australia in the Test Championship finals to be played at the iconic Lord’s ground later this year.
The Indian cricket team is set to play four Tests, five T20Is, and three ODIs against England with the crucial series starting with the first Test in Chennai from Friday, February 5.
Ahead of the first Test in Chennai, Rahane has insisted that India is just taking one game at a time and presently they are just focusing on the upcoming four-match Test series against England since the tourists is a very good team and they have to play their best game to outsmart Joe Root and his team.
Rahane told ANI, “See, right now we are just focusing on this series and on this first Test here in Chennai. World Test Championship finals are still three-four months away, New Zealand played really well and they deserve to be playing the finals of the World Test Championship.”
He further added, “We are playing against England now, it is all about taking it one game at a time. England is a very good team, we have to play good cricket, we will see what happens after this series.”
Noteworthy, India will have to beat England by 2-1, 2-0, 3-1, 3-0, or 4-0 margin in the upcoming Test series at home to book their place in the World Test Championship final to be played from June 18-22 at Lord’s.
On the other hand, England will have to win the series in India by 3-1, 3-0, or 4-0 margin to play the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand, while Australia can still qualify for the final if the upcoming Test series in India ends up like a drawn series, or if India wins the series 1-0 or England wins by 1-0, 2-1, or 2-1 margin.
(With ANI Inputs)
