'I Feel There's A Bit Of A Pattern With New Zealand' : Wasim Jaffer Points Out The Kiwis' Weakness Ahead Of The WTC Final

Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer has been hugely active in social media these days and has backed India on most occasions to lift the World Test Championship Trophy by defeating New Zealand in the final. India and New Zealand will lock horns beginning on the 18th of June in Southampton to claim the ultimate prize in Test cricket. Despite New Zealand’s recent success, Wasim Jaffer believes they have their weaknesses.

England suffered their first home Test series defeat as New Zealand beat them 1-0 in the two-Test series. After dominating the hosts in the first Test at the Lord’s that resulted in a draw, the tourists defeated Joe Root’s men at the Edgbaston by eight wickets. As a result, they toppled India as the number one team in Test cricket. And the Kiwis beat India in the second Test without the likes of Kane Williamson, BJ Watling, Tim Southee, and Kyle Jamieson.

Wasim Jaffer observed that New Zealand has a pattern of not winning any Test from behind. The former first-class stalwart, who played 31 Tests for India, unlike India did against Australia and England, the Black Caps are yet to achieve victory in that fashion. Thus, Jaffer believes that India need to put pressure as early as possible on their opponents to stand a good chance of winning the final.

“I feel there’s a bit of a pattern with New Zealand. Looking at their stats over the last few years, they have not come back from behind and won a Test match. They have always won Test matches when they have dominated or have been an equal team during the game. Like how the Indian team won in Australia, they came from behind, and even against England, they lost the first Test and won 3-1 that series. I have not seen that with New Zealand. So, if the Indian team can put them under pressure straight away, then I think we have got a good chance to win this championship,” Jaffer told on his Youtube channel.

You must have played some really good cricket to get there: Wasim Jaffer

Simultaneously, Wasim Jaffer adjudged New Zealand as the deserved finalists as they have played good cricket for the last two years. The 43-year old pointed out after beating West Indies, Pakistan, and India at home, they dominated England in England.

“When you reach the final of a championship after playing 2.5 years of cricket, you deserve to be there. You must have played some really good cricket to get there. They have beaten the West Indies and Pakistan, white-washed India. And even in England now, in both matches they dominated the England team,” he added.

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