India Focusing On England Tests As World Test Championship Final Is 3-4 Months Away: Ajinkya Rahane

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Ajinkya Rahane, Indian Test vice-captain has said that since the World Test Championship final is 3-4 months away, the team’s focus is on the England series right now.

Ajinkya Rahane said that the team’s focus is on the upcoming England series, starting on February 5, and the team are not looking too far ahead at the ICC World Test Championship final. The inaugural WTC final will be held at the Lord’s cricket ground in June and New Zealand have already qualified for the final.

Ajinkya Rahane Who Led India To 2-1 Series Triumph In Australia Is Back As Virat Kohli’s Deputy

According to Ajinkya Rahane, who led India to the 2-1 triumph in Australia last month, the team will be taking it one game at a time against England rather than focusing on the World Test Championship final that’s still far away. The 32-year-old Ajinkya Rahane will be back as Virat Kohli’s deputy in the upcoming 4-match Test series between India and England, that starts on Friday 5th February in Chennai.

While the first two fixtures of the 4 Tests will be hosted in Chennai, the teams will travel to Ahmedabad for the remainder of the Test series. The 1st Test will be held behind closed doors at the MA Chidambaram stadium while the 2nd Test will allow a 50 % crowd at the stands. The final two Test matches to be hosted at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad is also expected to allow spectators at the ground.

Ajinkya Rahane: India Focusing On Upcoming England Series As WTC Finals Are Still 3-4 Months Away

In order to be a part of the WTC final, against New Zealand at Lord’s, India will require any of these results in the Test series: 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1 or 4-0.

“See right now we are just focusing on this series and on this first Test here in Chennai. World Test Championship finals are still three-four months away, New Zealand played really well and they deserve to be playing the finals of the World Test Championship,” said Rahane during a virtual press conference on Wednesday.

Kane Williamson. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

“We are playing against England now, it is all about taking it one game at a time. England is a very good team, we have to play good cricket, we will see what happens after this series.”

The top two teams in the points table of the inaugural WTC will play the grand-finale in June 2021 in England. Australia, India and England are in the race to book a berth at the showpiece mega event at Lord’s. England need 87 points from these four Tests to go past Australia. That means they need to win at least three matches.

India need 70 points from the four-Test series to go past Australia. That means they need to win by at least a 2-1 margin that will fetch them 30 points for each of the two wins, and 10 points for one draw although 3-0 or 3-1 or 4-0, of course, will work even better.

Kane Williamson says New Zealand are “chuffed” to have made the ICC World Test Championship final and praised the two-year tournament for the positive impact. On 2nd February, New Zealand became the first team to qualify for the WTC final in June following the postponement of Australia’s tour of South Africa. Black Caps currently sit second on WTC standings, which are determined by the percentage of available points won rather than total points won.

That was not originally the case, with the ICC making the change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw several WTC series in 2020 postponed. The change in rules opened the door for a number of teams to make the final, including New Zealand.