After the suspension of the Indian Premier League 2021, the focus of the cricketing fraternity moved towards the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship Final 2021 in Southampton. India and New Zealand will lock horns against each other in the marquee clash starting from June 18. Both teams topped the points table to book a berth in the long-awaited final.
New Zealand confirmed their place in the final after Australia were beaten by India in January. Australia lost points for maintaining slow overrates during the Melbourne Test against India and dropped below New Zealand. Afterwards, Australia’s tour of South Africa got postponed which further jeopardized their chances to qualify, making New Zealand the first side to qualify.
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However, India had to fight against England in the four-match Test series at home to book their berth for the WTC final. England thrashed India in the opening Test match but the hosts made a remarkable comeback to win the remaining three games and confirmed a date with New Zealand in the final.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s sports entertainment page took a dig at India on its official Instagram page. The verified account shared a poster of the WTC final having an image of Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his Kiwi counterpart Kane Williamson. The post looked alright until one will read the caption, which goes, “Bad news India… you can’t create a dust bowl pitch at Lord’s.”
See the post here;
This was a dig at India’s antics against England, when they opted for turning pitches throughout the four-match series. None of the last three matches lasted the fifth day. The last two Tests at Ahmedabad were finished within two and three days respectively.
Such pitches divided the whole cricketing fraternity into two halves. One side was in support of the spinning tracks while the other was rubbishing those pitches.
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The dust bowl refers to pitches that support batting at the beginning. As the game progresses, the cracks start to get wider and start assisting spinners, subsequently, the batting becomes more difficult.
This particular post was liked by three Kiwi cricketers as well – Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Tom Latham.
Lord’s cricket ground was initially slotted to host the WTC final but the International Cricket Council moved the venue to Hampshire Bowl, Southampton, which has the most suited conditions for a bio-bubble environment as the stadium has a hotel on its premise.
