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WTC final: Cheteshwar Pujara confident of India's chances at neutral venue against New Zealand

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As India and New Zealand are gearing up for the big World Test Championship final, there have been numerous references made with the last series between the sides played last year. In that series played in New Zealand, Virat Kohli’s men were thrashed left, right and centre by a dominating team led by Kane Williamson in their own backyard.

India’s number three Tests, Cheteshwar Pujara has a different take on this as he believes the factors that helped the Blackcaps in the home series would be limited as the WTC final will be played at a neutral venue—Southampton, England. 

“When we played the Kiwis in 2020, it was in their backyard. That won’t be the case in the WTC final ... it’s a neutral venue for both the teams. None of the teams will have a home advantage,” Pujara said TOI in an interview.

Pujara, however, said that the Indian batsmen have learnt hard lessons from that series in New Zealand and other encounters of the past which will help them be better prepared for the varieties in line and angle of attack of Kiwi bowling line up.

“Their bowling attack is very well-balanced. We have faced their bowlers before and have a fair idea of how they operate, the angles they use, and we will be prepared,” Pujara added.

Pujara commended the amount of talent in the Indian team and cited the big series win in Australia where they won even in the absence of star players such as Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.

“The amount of talent in the Indian circuit is humongous. The Australia series earlier this year was an example. We had so many injuries, but the backup options did well for us to win the series. Everyone in this Indian team is hungry to do well and that’s the sign of a good side,” Pujara concluded.

Indian players are quarantining in Mumbai before they will take off on a chartered flight to the United Kingdom in the first week of June. The World Test Championship final will be played in Southampton from June 18.

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