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Neil Wagner Rates Indian Pace Cartel Highly Hoping For A Fascinating Final

Neil Wagner rates Indian pace cartel highly, hoping for a fascinating final

Acknowledging the depth of the Indian bowling attack, New Zealand left-arm speedster Neil Wagner feels that the final of the ICC World Test Championship final will be an evenly contested one. The left-arm pacer who has troubled several top-class batsmen with his pace and bounce is of the opinion that the final will be a battle between two bowling attack.

“There are a lot of quality bowlers up on show. India has a number of quality fast bowlers in their side, who can perform anywhere around the world. They can make it (the ball) swing around under overcast conditions,” Wagner said in a video posted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on their official Twitter handle.

India have picked a 20 man squad for the Test Championship final and the five-match Test series in England slated to be played in August. While there are six frontline pacers in the 20 man squad, India is carrying three standby pacers to support their cause if they are again marred with injuries similar to what happened in Australia.

Barring the frontline pacers comprising of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma, India also have the likes of Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj who has the ability to replace any of the three frontline pacers.

On the other hand, New Zealand also boasts of a lethal pace attack led by Trent Boult and Tim Southee. In Kyle Jamieson and Neil Wagner, they have the perfect foil for Southee and Boult and will be raring to come good against India in the final.

Wagner who will play a crucial role if New Zealand harbour hopes of winning their first ICC tournament feels that both teams need to adjust to the conditions in England as the weather and conditions can change within a session.

“When the sun comes out, it (wicket) is flat and nothing happens again.

“Conditions can change quickly throughout the day. They can start from being flat, nothing happening to suddenly starting to swing and nipping around within a session,” added Wagner.

Wagner who loves bowling the short-pitched stuff encountered a famous battle with Steve Smith during their tour of Australia in the 2019-20 session. Wagner will try to trouble the Indian batsmen with his short-pitched stuff. However, Wagner is not overly bothered about the WTC final.

“I am not getting carried away too much, trying to control the controllable,” said Wagner.

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Subrayen, Erwee receive Test call ups, Morris misses out as Proteas announce squads for Windies tour

Cricket South Africa announced a 19 man squad each for the Tests and T20Is to be played on the Proteas’ tour of the West Indies which begins on June 10 with the first Test at the Daren Sammy Stadium in St. Lucia. Spinner Prenelan Subrayen has received his maiden Test call up while veteran first-class batter Sarel Erwee has been called up for the red ball format as well. Apart from these two, Marco Jansen, who played two T20s with Mumbai Indians in the recently postponed IPL has found a place in the team too. While Prenelan, 27 has 145 wickets in 53 First-Class games, he is more than capable enough bowler in the lower order. Erwee, with 90 First-Class games in his kitty has scored 5422 runs with the help of nine centuries and 34 fifties. In the T20I squad, there aren’t many changes. David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock and Lungi Ngidi, all of whom went onto play the IPL and were replaced by some unknown faces on the team for the Pakistan series at home, are back into the team. The only player to miss out even after performing well in the IPL is Rajasthan Royals’ Chris Morris. The most expensive player in this year’s IPL auction, Morris won a game single headedly and impressed with both bat and ball. Despite that, he has failed to find a place in the limited-overs squad. People expecting AB de Villiers to be called up would once again have nothing but disappointment as the 360-degree player hasn't been named in the team once more. The Test side would be lead by Elgar while Bavuma would lead the T20Is team. The board also announced the team for South Africa's Ireland tour which would commence after the conclusion of the West Indies tour. Keshav Maharaj is the lone entrant in the ODI and T20I squad. The other 19 players in both the West Indies T20I series and Ireland tour remain the same. The Proteas would play three ODIs and an equal number of T20Is against the Irish team, starting with the first match, an ODI being played at The Village in Dublin. The caravan would then move to Belfast for the second and third T20I. Test squad for West Indies tour: Dean Elgar (c), Temba Bavuma (vc), Quinton de Kock, Sarel Erwee, Beuran Hendricks, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Anrich Nortje, Keegan Peterson , Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lizaad Williams , Prenelan Subrayen, Marco Jansen T20 squad for West Indies tour: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Sisanda Magala, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams White-ball squad for Ireland tour: Temba Bavuma (c) Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo , Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams

We will do well in WTC final: Cheteshwar Pujara

India’s Test mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara is all excited to play the final of the inaugural World Test Championship against New Zealand in Southampton slated to begin from June 18. The side had to do some hard work to register a berth in the title clash. After getting bundled out for 36 in the first Test against Australia, losing players due to injuries and being racially abused, the team fought their way back in the four-match series and defeated the Australian side 2-1 away from home. The Virat Kohl-led side then thumped England 3-1 on home soil to march into the final. Taking a look back at the successful campaign against both the sides, the right-handed batsman hailed the team’s efforts. “That will be a huge game for all of us because we have worked very hard to reach there. Each Test series was very important for us which has taken us to England for the final. This team has shown that we have got tremendous potential and hopefully, we will do well in the final as we have been doing in Test cricket for a long time,” says Pujara in an exclusive chat with Cricket.com. The Indian team lifted the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the trot (2018 and 2021). Talking about the importance of winning a series in Australia, Pujara admitted that it is a challenging task and also noted that the 2021 win was special considering the lack of experience that most of the players had. “Any tour of Australia is always a big challenge and very important for us. In that sense, the 2018 win was the most special. And then of course our last series win was also very special because the team was relatively weak as some of the senior players were not there and some of them were injured and not available for all the matches. As a team, it was a huge achievement and personally it was very satisfying,” reflects India’s No.3 in Test cricket. Kohli and his men will fly to the UK on June 2 where they will first play the WTC final which would be followed by a five-match Test series against England.

Stuart Broad feels much more could resurface from Sandpaper gate after key players retire

England Stuart Broad has chanced his scepticism at the Sandpaper gate having more to offer than what is on papers right now. The incident has been troubling Australian cricket ever since its misfortunate occurrence at the Newlands Ground in South Africa in 2018. Broad’s reasoning comes from the fact that no team could simply deny the fact that the maintenance of the ball and what is happening to it in the field is known only to the three players and not every member. Giving an example of how a bowler easily comprehends the change in the ball, Broad said, "I've obviously never bowled within the Australian bowling attack but I can talk about how, in an England Test team, if I miss the seam by four millimetres, Jimmy Anderson is on me.” "He'll be saying 'why has this ball got a mark on it here? It's because you've missed the seam! Start hitting the seam, will you’,” the 34-year-old added while speaking at a sanitisation promotion event partnered by ECB. Broad, who has 517 Test scalps to his name feels that the Aussies wanted the episode to be over by now, but if it lingers on, the England support team could use it to their advantage in the Ashes down under. “I can't see it still being a conversation [when the Ashes start] in November, December, but I can see it being sung in the Barmy Army stands if they're allowed,” he said. The Nottingham born went on to predict that maybe David Warner, one of the three Aussie players suspended after the Newlands incident may go on to write a book about it. "I have seen a couple of comments from David Warner's agent, too, and I think it will be an interesting time when he stops playing for Australia and writes a book,” said Broad who is gearing up for the Test series against New Zealand beginning June 2 with the first Test at Lord’s.

Too much pressure and overthinking behind India's lull in ICC tournaments feels Deep Dasgupta

Former India and Bengal wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta feels that India’s inability to win any ICC tournaments since the 2013 Champions Trophy has been largely due to several external factors. While India lost the 2015 World Cup semi-final against Australia largely due to their performance, their exit from the 2016 T20 World Cup was largely due to the dew factor. The toss played a crucial factor as the eventual champions West Indies went onto chase down a stiff target of 193 runs. Two no-balls in crucial junctures of the game didn’t help either as exceptional knocks from Lendl Simmons and Johnson Charles sealed the deal for the Caribbeans. In the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, India was again severely jolted by a no-ball from Jasprit Bumrah. Fakhar Zaman who was dismissed of a no-ball went onto smash a match-winning century and the target proved to be way too much in the end. India will look to end their lull in ICC tournaments when they face New Zealand in the World Test Championship final slated to be played in Southampton between 18 and 22 June. "Think about the choker remark the fact is that India has not won a knockout game in the ICC events since 2013. Again, there is no particular reason for that apart from that fact that maybe taking too much pressure and overthinking just because it's a big game in an ICC tournament," Dasgupta was quoted as saying during an interaction with Sports Today when a fan asked him whether India are the new chokers in world cricket. "Also, think of the New Zealand game, I think India should have won that. 2017, the Champions Trophy game (final) against Pakistan, that no-ball, let's not get into that. We have spoken a lot about that no-ball. Then, in the West Indies Wankhede game (2016 T20 World Cup), the toss played a crucial role. 180 (192) was not a bad score, but the dew factor and all that played a role," he further added.