India will face New Zealand on 18th June in Southampton in the inaugural WTC final. To register a win against the current stalwarts of the New Zealand team is not easy anyways. India are on the verge to create history. In order to beat the in-form New Zealand team, they need to tick the right boxes.
The final will be a high voltage match as every one is eagerly waiting for the epic clash of best teams in test history.
Tackling the swinging conditions of UK
The final of the World Test Championship will take place in Southampton, the pitch which is full of pace, bounce and swing. Everyone is expecting lot of Swing from the New Zealand pacers as we used to play in the swinging conditions.
Kiwis have potential bowlers like Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson. India have announced their playing 11 for the WTC final a day before match. If Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma see off the moving ball then it will be a huge advantage for the Indians in the early context of the game. The opening pair will play a decisive role in the finals.
Contributions from the lower order
The pitches in England a tough to bat on and thus scoring 400-500 runs is not easy. The average score for the team batting first is 337 and the average score for the Team Battle second is only 283. In most of the matches the top order fails to perform in these swinging conditions and the role of the tail and lower order becomes very vital in scoring huge total.
We have seen Indian lower order fails to perform a lot of times but in the recent years they have come to the rescue when the team required the most. The partnership in Australia between Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar saved the match for the Indian team. If the team has to put hugh total on the board the lower order has to be perform.
Attack with the new ball
The pace bowling is now India’s biggest strength in recent years. We have seen India’s dominance all over the world just because of the pace battery. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma has done really well under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. The pitch in Southampton will favour seamers ,so the Indian pace attack will have a huge role in the match.
In the recent years, Bumrah has emerged as the new leader in the Indian bowling line up and his toe crushing yorkers are clueless for the batsmen all over the world. He has picked up 83 wickets in just 19 test matches. The experience of Mohammed Shami and Ishant will be vital for the Indian team. Ishant has played more than 100 test matches for India when he will lead the the bowling attack. He picks wickets early in the innings. While, Shami’s role is to provide breakthroughs whenever needed, as he has done it in the past.
Short pitch bowling
The pitches in England are not widely considered for short pitch bowling but the Indian team has bowlers with great pace , so it will be a good option to bowl short pitch delivery to the kiwi batsmen. The New Zealand batters likes to come on Front foot to play strokes , but with the amount of pace which indian bowlers have they can discomfort them.
Most of the teams use bounces against Colin De Grandhomme and Ross Taylor but it can also be very effective against conway Tom Latham and Williamson too. In England, there is always an opportunity to pick wickets anytime in the game. Short pitch bowling will unsettle them early in the innings.