Kane Williamson’s top-ranked New Zealand Test team will take on India in the first-ever World Test Championship final that gets underway on Friday, 18 June, in Southampton.
Shane Bond, former New Zealand pacer and an integral part of the Mumbai Indians’ franchise where he’s worked closely with Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, spoke to The Quint about the two players, his expectations from the match. He also made a big prediction: New Zealand will bowl India out on the first day itself if it wins the toss and elects to field.
Here’s what he said:
New Zealand is the number one Test side in the world and was the first to qualify for the WTC final. But they’re hardly ever spoken of in the same breath as England, Australia or India. But now, we’re starting to see them set the record straight based on their performances.
It’s just natural that Australia, England, and India in particular get most of the TV time particularly when it comes to the big tournaments. I think New Zealand has always tended to fly under the radar a little bit. Most of the guys will say there’s nothing they can do to control the narrative in the Press and they just get on with their work.
Particularly in the last few years, New Zealand has been getting the credit. It is not just the underdog, or lucky. It is a very good team and a tough one to beat.
Cricket’s on a buzz here (in NZ). There’s a genuine excitement about the game (WTC Final) coming up that New Zealand could do something special. To win the Test championship would be unbelievable for a country of our population, resources and player depth. It’s pretty cool.
Any comments on Devon Conway? At 29, he made his Test debut against England this June after moving to New Zealand from South Africa in 2017. He scored a double century in his first innings and just everyone in Kiwi cricket was celebrating him.
He’s one of the nicest guys you can possibly meet. He’s dominated domestic cricket. His success is a recognition of the journey he’s taken to ‘nationalise’ to New Zealand from South Africa. He left with nothing, started with nothing and has worked his way up to where he is now.
You often have only praise for Rohit Sharma. He’s switching formats now from his Mumbai jersey for the next few months. Do you feel he has a lot left to offer in the longest format?
I love Rohit Sharma. He’s a legend. We have good banter and share jokes. He’s one of my favourite people to be around and he’s my favourite batter to watch. He’s got all the shots and is an unbelievable player. He was the difference in the last series between India and England on the wickets that were so hard to bat on.
He’s a real danger for New Zealand because not only has he got all the shots in his kitty but he can take the game away from you because he’s hugely experienced. He is one guy who will go out and just take the game on from the first ball.
I know there was banter going on between Trent (Boult) and Rohit in our (Mumbai Indians) nets about the WTC final. Trent would swing one back in and say, ‘I’m going to get you out LBW’ and Rohit would laugh with him.
We love Cheteshwar Pujara in this format. He didn’t have the best of tours in Australia, but he is not a man you can take lightly?
My first experience in the IPL was bowling to Cheteshwar Pujara in the nets. He was a 20-year-old local player. I was bowling quite quick and I thought, ‘who is this bloke? He can bat!’ That’s been him for the last 10 years, except he’s scored a mountain of runs.
I think what Pujara does best is blunt attacks. He’s not going to take the game away from you by scoring fast and that’s why Rohit Sharma is a different class because not only can he stay there, he can score fast.
I don’t think New Zealand will mind as long as he doesn’t score runs at a quick rate. They will be comfortable enough to try to chip away around him. New Zealand will be concerned if Pujara bats for six hours because if he does, India is going to score 300-400 runs.
If you had someone to bat for your life, Pujara is the guy because he’s prepared to go out there and bat for 10 hours if his team needs it.
Jasprit Bumrah has spoken at length about the influence you’ve had on his career. Do you both interact when he’s on international duty as well? What would you have to say him now as he prepares to play this big Test, having not played for over a month.
We talked before the series in India and before he played in Australia. We’ve talked around a whole lot of different series, across formats.
What advice would I give him? I think the Indian bowlers, particularly the pacers, need a conversation with their captain because they’ve come off no cricket. So, they will need clarity about how long their spells would be as it’s going to be hard when you’ve had no competitive cricket for so long. How do we keep the bowlers fresh? How do we keep them coming back for five or six days?
I think the conversation with bowlers in such a big game will also be similar to that in a T20 game: Try to forget about the result, focus on how you want to attack each batsman.
That’s the sort of conversation I would have with him, leading up to a Test match like this.
Can’t ask you to predict a winner but how many days you see the match finishing in?
I’ve heard that there’s some rain around in Southampton which may have an influence on the team. I think the toss will determine a lot of that.
If New Zealand wins the toss and bowls, I don’t think the game will go five days. If India wins the toss and bowls first, the game could go on a little longer. The one advantage India will have is a better balanced bowling attack. I think India will play 2 spinners and 3 fast bowlers.
If New Zealand fields first, it will bowl India out for 200 in the English conditions because they’ve played two Test matches and has had a far better preparation. That’s why I think New Zealand are favourites for this game.
I think if New Zealand fields first, it will bowl India out in a day.
(The World Test Championship final broadcast will start 2 PM onwards on the Star Sports network from 18 June.)
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