WTC final: India seek glory, with an eye on redemption

The last time ICC introduced a new multi-nation tournament in a format, India sent a rather inexperienced team, which exceeded all the expectations to conquer the maiden event.

14 years later, they have gone for another Avant-Garde, this time in the longest format, delighting the purists. And given how Test cricket continues be the true test of skills and character, India are in with a full strength squad, arguably the best the country has seen in decades. So, the expectations are soaring!

The road to the final was not all sunshine and rainbows for the Virat Kohli led team, especially after the qualification criteria were changed owing to COVID-19 forced loss of cricket last year. But they backed their skills, flaunted their bench strength and romped into the final as the table toppers.

Now they are up against New Zealand who won their last ICC Trophy in 2000, and were denied the chance to add another to the cabinet a couple of years back by England. But before they were undone by the stroke of bad luck and then existing rules, they had broken hearts of millions of Indians in the semifinal. Coincidently, New Zealand are the only team who have won a series against India in the WTC calendar.

In fact, they beat England in the Test series in the lead up to the final and, experts believe, this and the conditions mean that they have the advantage in the big final.

But India are at the top of their game. The age-old problem of having to do with lack of quality pacers in overseas conditions is a thing of past now. Their pace bowling is their main strength now, and the batting too has only evolved for better.

On paper, both sides look equal with India having their noses ahead because of their spin bowling strength. Whether the conditions allow the spinners to flourish or not will be something to observe as the game progresses. Another headache for India is to find the best three fast bowlers for the game. With Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami being a certainty, the fight is between Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Siraj. For someone with 100 Tests under his belt, Ishant seems the easy pick. But Siraj’s recent heroics mean that Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri are not going to have it easy to ignore him.

The ICC seems ultra-serious about this event and the success of the final will only bolster their confidence. If the chatter on social media is to be believed, fans are not treating it as just another Test match but a world cup event for Test cricket. Virat Kohli is hungry to have an ICC trophy in his cabinet. In his tenure as the Indian captain, he has achieved the most illustrious of goals, adding a world title beating a side which ousted his team the ODI World Cup would just be an extra special feeling.