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'Quite an obvious one for me': Michael Vaughan predicts the winner of India vs New Zealand World Test Championship final
The World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand has got the cricketing world excited, and former England captain Michael Vaughan has come up with his pick to win the match.
The final of the World Test Championship is less than a month away and while the Indian team has not yet stepped foot on English soil, New Zealand have arrived in the UK ahead of their two-Test series against hosts England.
New Zealand were the first team to make the final of WTC final, which will be played from June 18 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Their opponents will be India, who sealed their place in the final by securing a win in the fourth Test against England in Ahmedabad at home.
The WTC final will see a repeat of the ICC World Cup 2019 semi-final, where New Zealand trumped India by 18 runs in a rain-effected two-day contest. For Virat Kohli's India, it's about retribution. Besides the WC S/F loss, India suffered a 0-2 defeat during their Test series in New Zealand in 2020 as well. Clearly, New Zealand have the edge on the basis of recent performance.
The WTC final has got the cricketing world excited promises to be a fascinating battle. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has come up with his his pick to win WTC final, believing New Zealand will pip India on the basis of the following reasons.
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"New Zealand (will win). English conditions, the Duke ball, and India on the back of a busy schedule… they’ll arrive pretty much a week before and go straight into it, [and] New Zealand have two test matches, you could argue warmups against England to get them prepared for the final," Vaughan told Spark Sport.
"So it’s quite an obvious one for me, New Zealand will be better prepared and they’ll have more of a group of players who’ve played more cricket with the red ball, particularly the Duke ball here in the UK. New Zealand, all the way."
Vaughan weighed in on the possibility of the current New Zealand side being the best in history. Of course, there have been New Zealand greats in the past who have defined the previous eras, but Vaughan reckons there's something about the current team that really distinguishes it from the rest.
"It’s not difficult, you haven’t had many great teams. You’ve had great players, you go back to the 80s, Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe were up there with the greatest to have ever played test match cricket. As a team, Brendon McCullum’s team were exciting and vibrant but I never felt they were consistent because they let the opposition in by playing so aggressively," Vaughan added.
"Under Kane Williamson you’ve started to play high class, disciplined test match cricket over long periods, and real quality teams do it over day one to five. And it takes until the end of day five to wear a team down to get that win, this is what this New Zealand side can do."
