Not Going To Watch The World Test Championship Final: Nathan Lyon

Ace Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon admitted that he is not going to watch the upcoming final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). The ICC WTC final will be played between India, who finished no.1 on the ICC WTC points table, and New Zealand, which was the first team to qualify for the final.

The final, which was originally supposed to be played in Lord’s ground in London, was shifted to the Rose Bowl, in Southampton owing to COVID-19 restrictions and will be played from June 18-22 with 23 being a reserve day. This will also be India’s first-ever Test match at a neutral venue.

Australia was in line to qualify for the final, had England beaten India 2-1, 3-1, or 4-0 in the four-match Test series on their tour of India, however, India defeated England by a margin of 3-1 and booked their ticket to the final, eliminating both Australia and England in the process.

India topped the tournament points table with 72.2% points punctuated by New Zealand at 70.0%. Despite winning one more game than New Zealand, Australia missed the second spot by just 0.8%. The slow over-rate penalty point for the MCG Test that Australia copped was the reason why they missed out on a final’s berth.

Not Gonna Watch The ICC WTC Final: Nathan Lyon  

Interacting with cricket.com.au on The Unplayable Podcast, Nathan Lyon said that he will not be watching the ICC WTC final match. He also called Virat Kohli’s India the best team in the world but argued that if the game is played with the Dukes ball, New Zealand will have a better chance to clinch the trophy.

“Not gonna watch [the WTC final]… I think the best team in the world is India. I was under the impression that the team that finishes on top chooses the ball. So if it was Australia vs New Zealand, we wouldn’t have picked the Dukes ball because of the quality of swing bowling in New Zealand. Its little things like that will play a massive role in the game. If they play with the Dukes ball New Zealand will come into play,” said Nathan Lyon.

The hand-stitched Dukes ball is used prominently in England and West Indies and thanks to a profound seam aid the fast bowlers more.

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