Team India’s vice-captain in Tests, Ajinkya Rahane has said that the hosts will be focusing more on the upcoming series against England, scheduled to be commencing on February 5, and not looking too far ahead at the ICC World Test Championship final which will be taking place almost ‘three-four months away’. The inaugural WTC final will be taking place at the Lord’s cricket ground in June and New Zealand has already qualified for the final.

According to Rahane, who led India to the 2-1 triumph in Australia last month, the team will be taking it one game at a time against England rather than focusing on the World Test Championship final that’s still far away. The 32-year-old will be back as Virat Kohli’s deputy in the upcoming 4-match Test series between India and England, which starts on Friday in Chennai.

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While the first two Tests will be played in Chennai before the teams traveling to Ahmedabad for the remainder of the series. While the 1st Test will be behind closed doors at the MA Chidambaram stadium, in the 2nd game, 50 % crowd will be allowed at the stands. The final two Test matches to be hosted at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad is also expected to allow spectators at the ground.

In order to be a part of the WTC final, against New Zealand at Lord’s, India needs to win the Test series by these margins: 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1, or 4-0.

During a virtual press conference, Ajinkya Rahane said, “See right now we are just focusing on this series and on this first Test here in Chennai. World Test Championship finals are still three-four months away, New Zealand played really well and they deserve to be playing the finals of the World Test Championship.”

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He further added, “We are playing against England now, it is all about taking it one game at a time. England is a very good team, we have to play good cricket, we will see what happens after this series.”