Former New Zealand pacer and Mumbai Indians' bowling coach Shane Bond revealed Rohit Sharma and Trent Boult used to engage in banter during the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021). Both the cricketers, who play for Mumbai in IPL, will be facing each other in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Bond, in a virtual press conference by Star Sports, said Boult would hit on Rohit's pads and tell him a similar thing is going to happen in the WTC final when they played each other in the nets.
"What I do know is that even during the IPL, Trent Boult was running in and swinging the ball and hitting him on the pad and telling him 'that's going to happen in the WTC final'," Bond said.
"They were already talking about it months in advance which was just brilliant. They were very aware, those two, that they were going to come up against each other," he added.
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The final between India and New Zealand will be played from June 18 in Southampton. Both the teams are in England for a while now, and New Zealand has even played a two-match Test series which they won over Joe Root and co.
Bond talked about Rohit being a big threat for New Zealand in the WTC final as he can change the game with his attacking batting. However, he further said the India opener has a few weakness which the Kiwis would like to make full use of.
"I love Rohit Sharma as a player. I almost see him as a Matthew Hayden type of player. He goes out, as he did in the series against England on very difficult pitches, and imposes himself.
He could come out and score very quick runs. He is dynamic and in difficult conditions, like Rishabh Pant, who can take the game away from the opposition very quickly even when New Zealand are bowling with the new ball.
"With the field up, being a natural stroke maker sort of suits him when the ball is hard. There are obviously some areas in the game that New Zealand can look to exploit, but what he does is score fast.
"If he can score fast and put runs on the board, that instantly puts pressure on the bowling group. I can't wait for that battle, the Boult-Sharma battle with all the banter that has been going on and I am expecting a few smiles between the boys as well, which will be fun to watch," Bond added.
