WTC Final – New Zealand will have an advantage as they will play two Tests against England – Dilip Vengsarkar

 

Former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar believes New Zealand will have an advantage in the upcoming World Test Championship final against India as they will play two Test matches against England before the grand final. Vengsarkar feels that those two Test matches will help New Zealand in getting acclimatise to the English conditions.

The New Zealand team has been in England for some time and they have had a good time to prepare for the two Test matches against the hosts and also the WTC final. On the other hand, the Indian team is currently completing their quarantine in Mumbai and they will travel to England on June 2. Thus, the Virat Kohli’s team will be able to train from June 12 and the visitors will need to hit the ground running.

Dilip Vengsarkar said while talking to CricketNext, “Of course, New Zealand will have an advantage because they play two Tests before the WTC final. It will help them. How quickly India adapts to the conditions will be important. But, New Zealand would have already had two Tests experience and would be playing in their third Test on the trot against India, while it will be the first on the tour for Kohli And Co”.

The former Mumbai stalwart batsman added that it is crucial for the batsman to spend as much time as possible in the middle and get used to the English conditions.

“Spending as much time as possible in the middle is vital. In the olden days, we had the advantage as we used to have more county games before the Test matches and in between Tests. That definitely helped to get used to the conditions. How they have scheduled this tour, I don’t know,” he added.

Vengsarkar added that the Indian team should play some warm-up matches before the five-match series against England. India will have almost 45 days to prepare for the Test series and they can get used to the conditions.

“I hope they get to play some matches before the Tests. Because playing county games helps to get into the groove, get acclimatised to the conditions”.

The World Test Championship final will take place at Ageas Bowl, Southampton from June 18.