Last Updated on 9 months ago by Charbel Coorey
WTC Final Prediction: Who will win? | WTC 2021 Final India vs New Zealand Prediction – predicting who will win the Final
The much-awaited ICC World Test Championship Final 2021 is finally here. India and New Zealand will lock horns for the title of World Test Champion. Both sides have played some very good cricket to be here in the final, and certainly deserve to be there.
India dominated the league stage of the World Test Championship. They were the table toppers with 520 points and a win percentage of 72.2%. This Indian Test side is arguably India’s strongest side in history. The pace attack especially is the best fast bowling attack for India.
New Zealand too has played some very dominant cricket at their home. They were undefeated at their home and even white-washed India 2-0 when India toured Kiwi land. New Zealand finished 2nd in the WTC points table with 420 points and a win percentage of 70%.
They also won the 2-match series against England in England and it’s a great morale-boosting win just before the WTC final. Irrespective of whoever wins the WTC final one thing is sure that the fans are in for a cracker of a contest.
Who will win the World Test Championship Final?
Coming straight to the point, I think India will win the World Test Championship. Hear me out why I’m saying this before labeling me as a typical Indian who wants his country to win. I do, yes, but there’s something more than just that as to why I’m saying that India will win.
Overseas Performance
Both India and New Zealand have dominated the games played in their own backyard. Both sides won all the series at their home but India has been a better touring side when compared with New Zealand. India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21. That series was one of the best Test series ever. India won the series after getting all-out for 36 runs and losing the first Test.
Virat Kohli and many other big names were missing but this Indian side showed a lot of courage and character and won the series against all the odds. India also won against the Windies in the Caribbean where the Windies side is not an easy opponent in their own backyard.
New Zealand, on the other hand, got whitewashed 3-0 in Australia. They lost all the Tests by 296 runs, 247 runs, and 279 runs respectively. The Kiwi side won a Test against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. They were scheduled to tour Bangladesh but the series got cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. India too has lost series’ overseas but they performed better than New Zealand in this regard.
Batting Strength
India and New Zealand both have a world-class bowling attack. The main battle in the World Test Championship final will be between the batting units of both teams. It’s very simple but I think both sides’ bowling attack will perform really well and whichever team’s batting order will play better will win.
New Zealand has just won a Test series against England. Devon Conway stole the show with the bat in the first game but other than him only Henry Nicholls did well with the bat, others failed to perform in that game. In the second Test, Conway, Ross Taylor and Will Young each scored in the 80s. Kane Williamson failed in the first Test and didn’t play the second.
India has Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as openers, both inexperienced in England. Then India has Cheteshwa Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja. New Zealand has Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling, and Daryl Mitchell or Colin de Grandhomme.
The Kiwi openers have done well when compared to their Indian counterparts who are yet to prove themselves on English soil. Not going into numbers but other than that, if you compare the middle-order of both sides, I think the Indian batters have the edge over this Kiwi middle-order.
Indian batsmen have been better on the overseas tours when compared with New Zealand batters. Also, India has the “X-factor” in Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja with the bat. Both are in excellent touch at the moment and can turn the table on its head.
I’m saying this again that this match will depend more on both teams’ batting than bowling, as the bowlers will do what is expected from them.
I’m also not saying that this will be a walk in the park for the Indian side. New Zealand has been India’s kryptonite in the ICC tournaments and is a very strong side to defeat. The game will be played on the ground on that day and whoever excels will win the title and I feel that it will be the Indian team.
Thanks for Reading!
Written by Robin Rounder. Follow Robin on Twitter today.
