India is set to play a long tour in England and the bio bubble fatigue often sets in on such long tours. To ensure players are not mentally fatigued on the long tour of England, the Indian team management has allowed those players who could not make it to the World Test Championship final squad of 15, to leave the bio-secure bubble. India currently has 20 squad members and 4 net bowlers.
The 15 member squad for the World Test Championship Finals was finalized on June 15. The players who were not part of the squad were allowed to leave the bio bubble. It is understood that a lot of Indian players have headed to London.
Post the WTC final, the entire Indian team and support staff will take a three-week break and regroup before the August 4 first Test at Nottingham.
India on the backfoot in the WTC final
After play has been on and off in the WTC Final, the situation is currently much better for the black caps. India was bundled out for 217 runs in the first innings and New Zealand is currently 101/2. India certainly needs to step up with the ball if they have to win this game. The Indian seamers have not been able to extract swing movement from the pitch.
Devon Conway started the proceeding for New Zealand with a gritty knock. He was dismissed just before stumps for 54. The main target for the Indians would be to target the New Zealand middle order. If they are able to get a decent lead in the first innings then that would tip the scales in their favour as the 4th innings in Southampton has often favoured spinners.
#TeamIndia 🇮🇳 strike at the stroke of Stumps on Day 3️⃣
Ishant picks half-centurion Conway 👌🏻
New Zealand 🇳🇿 lose 2️⃣ wickets
Day 4️⃣ promises to be an exciting one tomorrow #WTC21
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/CmrtWscFua pic.twitter.com/VkQdragnbr
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 20, 2021
India has two quality spinners and they can get them the wickets. For New Zealand, the job is simply to play the way they are currently playing and keep India on the back foot. The match is going to get interesting as we head into the 4th day of the Test match.