shadow

New Zealand come into the historic one-off Test on the back of a 1-0 series win against England in their own backyard while India have only played an intra-squad match.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • New Zealand come into the WTC final on the back of a 1-0 win over England
  • India played an intra-squad match in preparation for the final. 
  • New Zealand finished runners-up in the last two World Cups

New Zealand couldn’t have asked for a better scenario to face India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final than the current one, former fast bowler Shane Bond has said. New Zealand come into the historic one-off Test on the back of a 1-0 series win against England in their own backyard.

India, on the other hand, arrived in England almost a month after New Zealand and have played an intra-squad match in preparation for the final.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better scenario to play India in England with no practice. Us coming off two Test matches. We are primed to win something,” said Bond on the TOI Sportscast.

WTC Final, India vs New Zealand Day 2 Live

“So I am hoping that some of the hard luck stories that we have had in the last couple of World Cups, we will flip the script this time and lift up that mace and be the champions, which will be pretty special, pretty cool for our sport over here, because cricket is the number two sport in the country and for us to achieve that (win WTC Final) will be fantastic,” he further said.

New Zealand finished runners-up in the last two World Cups, losing the 2019 tournament on the basis of a lesser boundary count than winners England after the final was tied despite a Super Over.

“We are a very small country. Always seen as the dark horse, the underdog. In the last eight years in particular the team has made two World Cup finals and tied one. That’s the way I see it. And got really close,” said Bond.

With cricket being the number two sport in New Zealand after rugby, Bond said that winning the WTC would do wonders for the sport in the country.

“For a country of our population, our resources, our finances to do that and now find ourselves in the WTC (final) is an incredible effort. Someone like me, who has played for the national team, I take a huge sense of pride in it. And I know everybody here is very excited about the Test match and think that we have a huge chance of winning,” he said.

Author

India today

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *