The Indian team departed for the UK on Thursday where they are scheduled to play six Test matches starting with the final of the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship final. India will be locking horns against a resurgent New Zealand outfit in a one-off Test to claim the championship in red-ball cricket at the Ageas Rosebowl, Southampton on June 18.
Prior to the Indian team’s departure for a grueling England tour on Wednesday, the skipper Virat Kohli, and, head coach Ravi Shastri addressed the media but unknowingly they were seen talking about the strategy for the WTC final without being aware that the mic was on.
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While the press conference was still in progress, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri caught aware of the fact that they were live as they proceeded to discuss their strategy against the Kane Williamson-led New Zealand in the WTC final. Soon after the press conference was ended the audio of Kohli discussing gameplan went viral on social media.
In the leaked audio, the Indian skpper Virat Kohli is heard saying ‘Hum inko round the wicket dalwayenge, Left-handers hai inpe, Lala Siraj sabko start se hi laga denge.” To which Ravi Shastri agrees as he says ‘hmmm’.
https://twitter.com/WeBleedBlue007/status/1400067982571630595?s=20
After listening to this audio note, it seems that both Mohammed Siraj and Shami will be expected to feature in teh playing XI for teh WTC final. Team India is due to winning an ICC event after the 2013 edition of the Champions Trophy.
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In fact, they have made it to the semi-finals thrice (World Cup 2015, World T20 2016 & World Cup 2019) and have also made two final appearances (ICC World T20 2014 & ICC Champions Trophy 2017) but could not succeed in going all the way as the Men In Blue failed to get over the line in crunch games.