ICC WTC Final 2021: I Think It's Going To Be A Battle Of The Bowlers - David Warner

Dynamic Australia opener David Warner feels that the result of the World Test Championship Final between India and New Zealand would be heavily affected by the battle of the two bowling attacks. The marquee clash will commence on Friday at The Rose Bowl in Southampton.

Both sides have their bowlers to thank for marching into the WTC final. The two teams are filled with bowlers of myriad varieties, making it difficult for the respective captain to chose the best bowling attack.

While Jasprit Bumrah is a lock-in, Virat Kohli has a surplus of bowling options in Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj, along with spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

On the other hand, Kane Williamson will have to make the hard decision of leaving out one of – or both – Neil Wagner or Matt Henry, who was Man of the Match against England in Edgbaston, assuming that Trent Boult, Tim Southee, and Kyle Jamieson will start. The Kiwis also will be in a spot to drop either Colin de Grandhomme or Ajaz Patel.

It is going to be a great battle: David Warner

David Warner opines that while New Zealand are better acclimatized to the English conditions having played, and won, the 2-Test series against host England, the conditions in Southampton are significantly different, and will help the Indian spinners. He maintains that the pacers will be bowling with the Dukes ball, making it an entertaining contest between them and the batters.

“They [New Zealand] had the warm-up so because of that do they have a sense of what the conditions are going to be like. But we are at Southampton (for the WTC Final), which has been a spinning wicket in Tests. In ODIs, we have seen it as a hard bouncy track. So do India play two spinners?” David Warner told India Today on eSalaamCricket.

“It is going to be a great battle, both teams are using a Dukes ball, so I think it is going to be a battle of the bowlers,” David Warner added.

Both the teams have announced their 15-man squad for the final:

New Zealand squad: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, BJ Watling (wk), Tom Blundell(wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult, Matt Henry

India Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav

Also Read: ICC WTC Final 2021: India’s Batting Has More Class And Experience Than New Zealand’s- VVS Laxman