World Test Championship
The 2019-21 World test is the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship, which was organised with the intention of getting viewers attention back to test cricket,as per the purists test cricket was always seen as the real cricket, but since the emergence of T-20 cricket into international arena it was seen that test cricket's existence has came under threat, with more and more people actually enjoying shorter format of the game and longer for format of the game getting almosf no interest from the crowd ICC introduced World Test Championship which was under wrap for a long time, World Test Championship begun with the first Ashes test of 2019 and will soon conclude with the final test match being played at Rose bowl,Southampton between India and New Zealand.
Announced Squads for WTC final (both India and New Zealand) -
Indian Squad for WTC Final-
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).
Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla
New Zealand's Squad for WTC Final -
Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Will Young.
World test championship probable 11 for both India and New Zealand
To start with let's put both the captains's aside
Indian Captain Virat Kohli - Every Viratian consider him the new King of cricket, and Why should not they, after all Virat's hunger for runs and success made him topple almost every batting record one batsmen can capable of and he is looking yearning for more, his determination and hunger made him the top batsman of this era as well almost every team consider him a threat and don't want to bother him while he is on the crease or standing up as a leader of his team, moreover it has been seen that he rubbed off his hunger and determination into his team, right now he is in search of runs will he get it in this final, that needs to be seen.
New Zealand Captain Kane Williamson - Kane "Steady the ship" Williamson, This person is not only seen as a run machine but also as a perfect gentlemen of this gentlemen's game and also been the captain who took Kiwis to every ICC tournament's knock- out phase since he became leader, yes , he yet to win one, it's needed to be seen will he be able to lift the WTC trophy this time.
Update :- Kane Williamson has been rested for the second test against England due to an elbow injury and 'doubtful' for WTC championship final, hoping that he will be final and play against us at WTC final.
Indian Probabale Squad -
1. Rohit Sharma- Rohit 'talented, Sharma savors opening after all this position has brought him runs, records and most importantly stability in Indian team, in test after becoming opener in test as well he has already made this place one of his own and surely he will be there in Southampton as well.
2. Shubhman Gill/ Mayank Agarwal - Two young batsmen are next who have performed well and gunning for the opening slot of Indian tem , however Shubhman will get my vote of go ahead, because he is opening the batting for Indian team as of recent, and he has performed well in Australia, so for me it will be Shubhman who will open alongside Rohit in Southampton.
3. Cheteshwar Pujara- Do we have any better option then reliable 'Che' as of now, if you aske me I will definitely say no, Pujara has done so well in this position that I don't think anyone as better batsman than Pujara at least as of now.
5. Ajinkya Rahane - Vice Captain of Indian team has performed exceptionally well as captain during Virat Kohli absence in Australia test series and also got a century, but Rahane's form is still reason of worry for Indian team, will he get those runs he is still searching for? let's see...
6. Rishabh Pant- Rishabh Pant has recently perform so well as a wicket-keeper, that 'Super' wicket keeper Wriddhiman Saha has to sit outside also this time he is injured,so if nothing unprecedented happens Pant is playing as a keeper in Southampton.
The best thing I like about this squad that we can strengthen and make our batting deep as well as we don't have to compromise with our bowling attack, so I will pick two all-rounders here.
All-rounders
7. Ravindra Jadeja - Next, I will like to include Jadeja, as he time and again proved himself as a reliable all-rounder who can pick wickets with his left arm spin as well as he is a handy lower order batsmen who can perform as per the scenario and one of the best fielders available in international cricket.
8. Ravichandran Ashwin - Our wily off- spinner has done well in foreign conditions and also performed (on an average) well with the bat, he can pick wickets, he can bat well also he is good fielder, he is a another definite pick.
Pace Bowlers -
9. Ishant Sharma - Currently, the leader of bowling attack, if someone has surprised us with his improvement it is definitely Ishant, he has performed and proved himself in various situations as well as unlike other Indian tail-enders he can stay in the crease for a longer time and it sometimes become difficult for the opposition bowlers to dismiss him.
10. Mohammed Shami - A fit again Shami can become a major headache for the opposition, with time and again, Shami has provided us important breakthroughs as well as once he on song he it will be very hard to stop him.
11. Jasprit Bumrah - It is hard to select Indian team without Bumrah, he has proved himself in every format of the game as well as he has became a major force to reckon with, a nightmare for the opposition team batsmen, he is definitely the best out there and he will be there on 18th June at Southampton bowling his thunderbolts to Kiwi batsmen.
Surprise entry - It will be interesting if Virat would like to add Mohd. Siraj in the side, however I don't think that any captain would like to experiment in this grand stage of test cricket.
New Zealand Probabale Squad -
1. Tom Latham - The wicket keeper batsman is also the Vice captain of Kiwi team, in WTC matches he scored 680 runs in 11 test matches with a fine average of 40, so yes he is a definite pick for the summit clash.
2. Devon Conway- The South African born batsman is already making ripples in domestic and international arena, recently he entered on the rare list of batsmen who scored double century on his debut at Lord's so yes he is definitely accompanying Latham in Southampton.
4. Ross Taylor - The most experienced and ever so reliable Kiwi batsman is not having his best in WTC so far and also searching for runs just like Rahane, but it will his experience which will definitely come into count as well, so he will be playing in Southampton.
5. Henry Nicholls - If any other batsman who can be considered as a dependable batsman other than Pujara I believe it is this guy, in his career so far he played some wonderful innings for blackcaps and we will be seeing him again at Southampton.
6. BJ Watling - I think every Indian remember this guy, he was part of that memorable partnership of 352 runs for the sixth wicket with Brandon Mccullum that inspired Kiwis to draw a match that they almost lost, this WTC final match is also final match of this wicket keeper batsmen's international career as he will be retiring from all forms of the game.
Update :- BJ Watling has been rested for the second test against England due to an back problem.
All-Rounders
7. Colin De Grandhomme / Daryl Mitchell - its really a toss up between these two all rounders of New zealand, but with the kind of experience I think Grandhomme has he will definitely edge out Mitchell here.
8. Mitchell Santner - With Southampton is seen as spin friendly this guy is definitely a pick, but I believe if even that would not be the case he would definitely would be picked up as he has good performance against India as well as he is not mugger with a bat as well.
Pace bowlers
9. Kyle Jamieson - This 6 feet 6 inches bowler has made immediate impression from the time he has made a debut against India , he has also picked 36 wickets in his 6 matches with a scintillating average of 13.25,also he can bat and what I meant with bat is he that he can bat well, he would be a definite pick for Southampton.
10. Tim Southee - I don't think that I need to add anything about the leader of the bowling attack of Kiwis, his performances speaks too highly about his career and the highest wicket-taker for Kiwis will be definitely there against India at Southampton in World test championship.
11. Trent Boult - Boult has so far exceeded all the expectations and performed so well that he became a biggest threat for all the opposition batsmen and so far he has a brilliant record against India and Indian batsmen will be wary about him, they need to outwit him if they want to win the trophy.
Surprise Entry - If unfortunately, somehow Kane Williamson or BJ Watling would not be fit enough for the WTC final at Southampton then there is a chance that wicket-keeping batsman Tom Blundell can play , Will we see Neil Wagner Playing WTC final, let's see.
So these are all the predictions for my side, if both of the captains selected the side I've predicted I will be over the moon, but I believe that both side will not experiment at all and will try to select the team as per the "Horses for courses" theory.
0 Comments