After the completion of the white-ball series, India and New Zealand are prepared to lock horns in the two-match Test series starting from Friday (Feb 21) at Basin Reserve in Wellington.
In the past six months, India have won every single match of the World Test Championship (WTC). However, the first away tour of Virat Kohli and Men in 2020 will be a challenging one as they haven’t yet experienced a WTC game in SENA countries.
Although, the Indian skipper looks confident and positive regarding the upcoming red-ball series. Ahead of the opening Test, Kohli expressed that his side can compete against anyone irrespective of the conditions.
“We have prepared in a manner where our fitness levels are such, and concentration levels are such that we can compete against anyone anywhere in the world, and that’s the kind of confidence we are going to carry in this series as well,” Kohli said at the pre-match press conference.
Recently, the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the 2023-2031 Future Tours Programmer (FTP) cycle, which clearly indicates that the apex body is concentrating more towards limited-overs cricket. However, the Indian captain rated the WTC above any other ICC event.
“I think it (WTC) has made Test cricket more interesting, that’s something that we have experienced as a side although we haven’t had Test series in Australia or England with WTC on the line. This (New Zealand) is our first away tour since the home season. So, I’m sure the game is going to be pretty intense, and teams will go for results rather than settling for draws, which is what you need to see in Test cricket,” added Kohli.
“I think World Test Championship as an ICC tournament should be right up there. All the other tournaments for me they start under that. This is probably the biggest of them all, as every team wants to make it to the final at the Lord’s. We are no different,” Kohli added further.
The 31-year-old also showed trust in his boys and claimed that his side could qualify for the WTC finals scheduled to be played at Lords.
“We are in that zone. We want to make sure that we qualify as soon as we can and be in that frame of mind to hopefully win that (championship),” Kohli signed-off.
