India and New Zealand will lock horns in a one-off Test in June in England which would decide the winner of the ICC’s maiden World Test Championship (WTC). The WTC final is scheduled to be played at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton from June 18 to 22, with June 23 as the reserve day.
Although the match to determine the inaugural winner of the WTC may be more than a month away, Kiwi all-rounder, Colin de Grandhomme is of the opinion that Team India will find it hard to narrow down their playing XI given the abundance of talent they have at their disposal.
“With the amount of players they’ve got they can cover all bases because they’ve got real good seam bowlers these days and gun spinner, so I think the toughest thing for them is going to be picking the XI,” the ICC tweeted quoting De Grandhomme.
India's biggest problem heading into the #WTC21 Final?
While New Zealand in February became the first team to qualify for the WTC final after the Test series between South Africa and Australia was postponed. Team India qualified after they defeated Australia away and England at home. Surprisingly both after losing the first Test and without the services of their several senior players.
Now with most players turning up after a slew of injuries hit the team earlier, skipper Virat Kohli will have a problem of plenty with a plethora of players fit and available for the one-off Test against New Zealand in June. However, it needs to be seen if India with a strong unit can come out victorious against the Kiwis, who are no pushovers.
Meanwhile, Grandhomme’s is not a sure starter in New Zealand’s playing XI. He recently recovered from an ankle injury that had kept him away from international cricket for a year. The all-rounder last played for the Black Caps in March last year and missed the entire home season later due to the injury.
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