India is set to take on New Zealand in the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final starting from June 18 at Southampton.
Cricket experts have started predicting the playing XI of both the teams and who could have an advantage in the marquee event. While India is currently playing a intra-squad game, New Zealand won the two-match Test series against England by a margin of 1-0.
Australian Test skipper Tim Paine joined the bandwagon on Monday when he predicted that India would ‘comfortably’ win the marquee event, provided they perform to the top of their bent.
“My prediction is India will win pretty comfortably if they play anyway near their best,” Paine said in a video shared by Cricket.com.au.
Tim Paine has been keeping an eye on England's form ahead of the #Ashes summer – and the Aussie Test skipper also shares his prediction for the #WTC21 Final… pic.twitter.com/zGO3hZbYxv
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 14, 2021
For the unversed, Australia had lost the two-match Test series against India under Paine’s leadership, and hence the 36-year-old knows the grit and determination of Virat Kohli & Co.
Notably, India have lost just one series in the WTC cycle, and that was against New Zealand in an away tour.
Meanwhile, as per the latest updates, Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja smashed an unbeaten 76-ball 54 on Day 3 of the intra-squad game while pacer Mohammad Siraj bagged two scalps, conceding 22 runs.
For New Zealand, their opener Devon Conway is in top form since he thrashed the Three Lions by cruising to a double ton on his debut. The Kiwi team looks in good shape as they made six changes in the second game and still emerged victorious. Among the bowlers, Tim Southee and Matt Henry have proved their mettle as they bagged seven and six wickets, respectively, in the one game they participated in.
