Virat Kohli-led Team India will kick off the 2021/22 international season with the blockbuster World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand. The maiden WTC final will be played at Southampton from June 18 to 22.
New Zealand recently played 2 Test matches against England. The first Test ended in a draw while the visitors won the second game under Tom Latham’s captaincy.
The Indian contingent hasn’t played a red-ball fixture since the home Test series against England and are short on match practice. So have NZ’s preparations and the Test series against England put India on the backfoot? India great Sachin Tendulkar doesn’t think so.
In an exclusive conversation with Times Now, Master Blaster said that India won’t be on the backfoot at all and that it’s important to look ahead instead of looking at what has happened.
“I don’t think India will be on the back foot at all. Yes, things could have been different but due to the pandemic and number of challenges, whatever we were able to do – I think the team has done that. And it is important to look ahead and not look behind. This could have happened, we have could have done so many things. But that is behind us,” Tendulkar told Times Now.
“Let’s think of what we have to do because the whole world is focusing is on what India is going to do. No one is gonna talk about what happened a few days ago – whether Indians were able to get enough match practice or not. Nobody is going to discuss that.”
Tendulkar added that New Zealand have had a perfect practice for the WTC final. As per Sachin, playing against England was probably the best preparation for the Kiwis.
“On the other side, New Zealand have had a perfect match practice. The Test series against England is possibly the best preparation for this game. So, that’s fine and that’s how it is. So whatever we can do, we should do. And whatever has happened so far, we need to close that book. We need to start a new chapter which is going to start from 18th onwards. I have no doubt that the players are mentally and physically prepared for this match because this is a big game. The whole world will be watching and the players understand their responsibilities,” he added.
