We are just one day away from history being created in cricket. On June 18th the first-ever World Test Championship final will be taking place at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. India and New Zealand will be part of the historical first-ever WTC Final both the teams have worked hard and performed remarkably over the last 2 years to reach the finals
India and the Black Caps are the top 2 teams in the world, both the teams contain star-stubbed players line-up, from experienced players like Cheteshwar Pujara & Ross Taylor to young talents like Kyle Jamieson, Shubman Gill, and Rishabh Pant.
Fans are expecting the high-intensity clash between Aggressive Virat Kohli and Calm Kane Williamson’s team. Virat Kohli is currently ranked at no.4 in the ICC test batsman rankings and the Kiwi captain Williamson is at the No. 2 spot. Giving company to captains; Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Henry Nicholls are in the Top 10 batsmen rankings.
Just 1⃣ day away from the final showdown! 👊 ⌛️#TeamIndia 🇮🇳 #WTC21 pic.twitter.com/gReJ2zEtJI
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 17, 2021
In the ICC Test bowling rankings, Ravichandran Ashwin is at No. 2 positions followed by Tim Southee at No. 3 and Neill Wagner at No. 5. Meanwhile, Kyle Jamieson, Colin de Grandhomme, Ravindra Jadeja & Ravichandran Ashwin are part of ICC’s top 10 all-rounder rankings.
Here are the top 3 battles to watch out for in the ICC World Test Championship final:
Rohit Sharma vs Trent Boult
The Mumbai Indians comrades will become rivals in the WTC final. Hitman is one of the best white-ball batsmen and since he has started opening for the team in tests he has been doing a great job too.
Rohit Sharma struggles a lot against left-arm Pacers and Trent Boult is considered one of the best in this field, his line, length, and swing are brilliant which can give a tough time to Rohit Sharma. Trent Boult has studied Hitman a lot in international cricket and the Indian premier league while playing under him in the Mumbai Indians squad.
If Trent dismisses Rohit with his abilities India will be in trouble similarly if Rohit smashes Boult from the start kiwis will have some hard time dealing with the opening batsman. This battle will surely be an interesting one.
Ravichandran Ashwin vs Devon Conway
Devon Conway, a new yet experienced cricketer, made his debut at the home of cricket; Lord’s cricket ground. Conway carried his limited-overs format form in Test cricket and created history by scoring a double century and getting his name on the “honors board ” in his debut at Lords. Conway has been in sensational form against England but facing spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will not be an easy job for him.
It will be a challenging job for Southpaw to face a world-class spinner; Ashwin, for the first time in his career. Ashwin’s record against left-handers is incredibly good, in any given pitch he has the potential to run through any opposition batting line-up.
However, Ashwin has an upper hand over Devon Conway in terms of international experience but still, Conway is a force that cannot be taken lightly.
Virat Kohli vs Kane Williamson
Fire vs Ice, Captain vs Captain, King Kohli vs Cool Kane. The battle between the skippers is one of the most interesting things in the WTC final. While Virat Kohli is the more aggressive one on the field, Kane Williamson likes to remain calm and cool in any given situation.
Williamson has scored test runs against India at an average of 36.40 and has an average of 26.10 batting in English pitches. Kohli has scored test runs against New Zealand at an average of 51.53 and In England, his average is 36.35.
This will not be the first time Kohli and Kane are facing each other as in the 2008 U-19 world cup, India led by Virat Kohli defeated Kane’s Black Caps in the semifinals. Both the players are supremely talented. It will be interesting to see which player comes out on top in the WTC finals.