As the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship (WTC) between India and New Zealand just a few days away, all the fans and pundits are making their predictions and discussing playing XIs to keep themselves busy before the upcoming Test match.

While a lot of experts feel New Zealand will have an edge after their 1-0 Test series win over England, Australia Test skipper Tim Paine thinks otherwise and backed Virat Kohli and Co. to emerge victorious.

“My prediction is, India will win pretty comfortably if they play anywhere near their best,” Paine said at a press conference in Brisbane.

Paine led the Australian side against New Zealand and India where the Aussies won against Kiwis 3-0 but suffered a 1-2 loss against Team India when they toured down under in early 2020.

WTC 2021 Final: Salman Butt says both India and New Zealand are equally matched ahead of the final

The wicket-keeper batsman then talked about how even though New Zealand has won their third Test series in England, they did not face the strongest England side.

“I think New Zealand are a good team, for one, and secondly if we’re being realistic I think it’s a really different team that we saw England out on the field to what we’re probably going to see in the Ashes keeping it in perspective it certainly wasn’t England’s strongest team,” the 36-year-old said.

The big WTC final between Team India and New Zealand is scheduled to begin from June 18 at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton in front of about 4000 spectators.

(With PTI inputs)