Former India player Yuvraj Singh has said that though he feels India should beat New Zealand in the final of the ICC World Test Championship in Southampton’s Rose Bowl starting June 18, he still mentioned that New Zealand will have the edge over India.
He reasoned that New Zealand is already playing red-ball cricket in England, while Indian players are coming off playing in the IPL 2021, and hence, the Kane Williamson-led side has the edge over Virat Kohli’s men.
New Zealand is preparing for the WTC Final by facing England in a two-Test series which started on June 2. They will play another match at Birmingham from June 10 to 14 before taking on Virat Kohli's India in Southampton from June 18.
India, who are ranked no.1 in ICC rankings for the Test team, will not be having any practice games before the WTC Final but will have 8-10 practice sessions before heading into the all-important clash.
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"It's a very good idea to take Test cricket to the next level. I feel India is very strong because lately, they have been performing really well away from home. They have the belief that they can win anywhere.
But conditions in England will be different, then there's the Dukes' cricket ball. The players do have quite some time to get used to the conditions, so I'm backing my team. India should beat New Zealand," Yuvraj told Sports Tak.
While rating India’s batting higher than New Zealand’s, Yuvraj Singh still pointed out the lack of Test match practice for the Indian team, giving New Zealand the advantage in the match which is being touted as the World Cup final of Test cricket.
"I think our batting is stronger, bowling I'd say both teams are at par. But it will be a bit difficult for the Indian players to get into the Test mode straightaway in England because they played the IPL in between. You have a better idea of the conditions when you get more used to them. Playing the Test match straight away won't be easy for India, New Zealand will have an edge," Yuvraj added.
(Sporta Tak inputs)
