Just a few weeks later, Team India will face New Zealand in the high-voltage clash of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final. The epic contest will take place from June 18 to 22 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
The summit clash will be played with Grade 1 Dukes ball and some other modifications in the rules, including DRS Reviews, Short Runs, and Player Reviews. A reserve day (on June 23) has also been allocated to make up for any lost time during the regular days of the match.
Ahead of the mega event, India’s senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is confident India will do well against Kane Williamson-led side. Ashwin said that the players haven’t played since the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 was postponed, but the Indian team will adapt to the English conditions quickly and perform as they did in Australia earlier this year.
Notably, India defeated Australia in the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2-1 despite many of their key players got injured, including Ashwin himself.
“We are at least another week to 10 days away from even practising for the first time. Most of the players have not played cricket since the IPL was called off,” Ashwin told The New Indian Express in an interview.
“So I think that is one of the biggest challenges, but once we go there, I think the Indian team will adapt quickly and perform like we did in Australia,” added the Chennai-lad.
The WTC final is a great opportunity for Ashwin to surpass Pat Cummins to become the leading wicket-taker in the red-ball tournament. Currently, the Tamil Nadu spinner is third on the list with 67 scalps to his name.
The 34-year-old is only behind Stuart Broad and Cummins, who have taken 69 and 70 wickets, respectively. Since England and Australia have not qualified for the WTC final, it gives Ashwin a vital opportunity to leapfrog both the pacers to become the highest wicket-taker in WTC 2019-21.
