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Kevin Pietersen has raised questions over India's preparations going into the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand. The former England batsman believes that coming straight out of the IPL to play a one-off Test will hinder Virat Kohli and his team's chances of winning the summit clash.
New Zealand have already played a two-match Test series against England this month, with the Kiwis emerging victorious by a 1-0 margin. While Pietersen termed New Zealand's preparation as 'fantastic', he was concerned with how the Indian players will adapt to the English conditions, given they have had no Test match practice under their belt.
In a blog on Betway, Kevin Pietersen wrote:
"New Zealand have had fantastic preparation for this World Test Championship final. They’ve played two Test matches against England, and basically outplayed them in both. You can’t prepare for a Test match in England having been involved in an IPL that was called off a month ago and with no proper warm-up matches at all."
Team India announced their playing XI for the final on Thursday. While both spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin made the cut, Mohammed Siraj and Hanuma Vihari had to miss out.
"Swinging and seaming conditions will really favor New Zealand" - Kevin Pietersen
A lot of rain is forecasted throughout the WTC final, and Kevin Pietersen believes the conditions coupled with the use of Dukes balls will favor New Zealand. He wrote:
"They’re playing with a Dukes ball so if the weather isn’t great over the first day or two, those swinging and seaming conditions will really favour New Zealand. You only get one or two chances in a one-off Test match, and I fear that India may be behind on their preparation."
India have found it hard over the years to go past New Zealand in major ICC events, having defeated them last in the 2003 ODI World Cup. Virat Kohli and co. also lost their last two Tests against the Kiwis in 2020, their only series defeat in the WTC cycle.
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