Yuvraj Singh, a former Indian all-rounder who played only 40 Tests for the country and amassed 1,900 runs, feels it will be Kane Williamson & Co. who will have an edge in the English conditions.
The whole of the cricketing fraternity is eagerly awaiting the ICC World Test Championship final (WTC). Virat Kohli-led Team India and Kane Williamson’s New Zealand, the top-two ranked Test sides respectively, will square off against each other in the summit clash with an aim to win the first-ever WTC.
Yuvraj Singh Feels 3 Tests Will Be Ideal And New Zealand Will Have An Edge
Ahead of the marquee encounter — which is to be held at The Rose Bowl, Southampton from June 18-22 — many former cricketers, experts, and pundits of the cricket fraternity have already opined on which side will have an edge over the other.
Yuvraj Singh also agreed with the likes of Indian team head coach Ravi Shastri and Ravichandran Ashwin that the WTC final should ideally be a best of three affairs.
In a conversation with Sports Tak, Yuvraj Singh said, “I feel in a situation like this, there should be a best of 3 Tests, because if you lose the first one then you can come back in the next two. India will have a slight disadvantage because New Zealand are already playing Test cricket in England.”
Yuvraj Singh further opined, “There are 8-10 practice sessions (for Team India) but there’s no substitute for match-practice. It will be an even contest but New Zealand will have an edge. I do believe India is very strong because lately, we have been winning outside the country. I think our batting is stronger, in bowling they are at par.
Prior to the team’s departure for the United Kingdom, Shastri and captain Kohli had addressed the media where the former had said, “Ideally, in the long run, if they want to pursue with the Test championship, a best-of-three final would be ideal — a three-match final as the culmination of two and a half years of cricket around the globe. Best of three would have been ideal,” he maintained.
New Zealand Drew With England In The 1st Test
Dominic Sibley scored 60 runs off 207 balls, equalling the seventh slowest fifty by an England opener after the year 2000. England was set 273 off 75 overs on the final day but, by the time hands were shaken on a draw with five scheduled overs remaining, they were still more than 100 runs from their target. Devon Conway of New Zealand had scored a 200 on his Test debut while another opener Rory Burns of the opposition team England scored 132.