Legendary England cricketer David Gower heaped huge praises on Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson ahead of the World Test Championship final. India and New Zealand will lock horns against each other in the summit clash of WTC on June 18 in Southampton in the quest to get their hands on the coveted trophy.
Kohli and Williamson are counted amongst the most prolific run-scorers in all three formats of the game. Both of them have led their teams to great success in the last few years. However, both of them failed to lift the major ICC trophy as captain and WTC final is going to be a huge game for both of them.
The former England captain hailed Kohli and Williamson as he called them as the two of the greatest batsmen in the world at the moment.
“We know there are two of the greatest batsmen in the world at the moment that are going to be involved in Virat and in Kane Williamson. You’ve got two very competitive teams. So, it makes for what I call a proper Test match,” Gower told Timesofindia.com.
Gower feels that the Southampton conditions in the WTC Final will surely provide a proper Test match between the two teams which deserved to be in the summit clash.
“First of all, they both deserve to be there. We’ve got a final between two very good teams. Knowing the Southampton ground as I do, I would expect it to be a proper game, a proper Test match. By which I mean that whenever people talk about conditions for Test matches, you want something that gives something for the bowlers, something for a batsman, or something for the spinner. And that’s the template for all matches. And I think the pitch at Southampton will most likely offer that,” said.
The pitch is going to play a crucial role in the mega clash as both New Zealand and India have fierce pace attacks that can easily exploit opposition batters if the surface offers any help.
Gower said that the Ageas Bowl pitch is going to reflect the status of them with both teams getting equal opportunity to prove their supremacy.
“I think they’ll try and prepare a pitch which will reflect the status of the game and will give both teams an opportunity to use all aspects or facets. So I think the fact that, for instance, India just won this last series largely (due to) spin. But we know that when conditions are different, there are some very good Indian pace bowlers (as well). So, you’ve got your three or four perfectly good seam bowlers, and if there’s a bit of help they will do a good job,” he said.