Former Indian cricketer and batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar has dismissed ‘advantage New Zealand’ argument for the World Test Championship Final calling it a pessimist view. While experts have argued that the Kiwis would be better placed going into the WTC Final because of their two-match Test series against the English side, Gavaskar has quashed those claims.
In his recent column in The Telegraph, Gavaskar pointed out the flip side of playing the two Test matches in English conditions. The little master said that the Kiwis could be low on morale if they are whitewashed by England in that series.
"The flip side of playing those two Tests is that New Zealand could get beaten and thus be low on morale when they take on India and there could be some injuries and niggles to some of their key players which can happen in early June in England," Gavaskar said.
The 71-year-old further added that the Indian team would be fresher going into the final at Southampton and would love to play the sport after a gap of one month.
"The other factor that will work in the Indian team's favour is that they will be fresh and raring to go and that sheer energy and enthusiasm to be able to play the sport they love after a month's gap will more than make up for any lack of match practice," Gavaskar wrote.
Going into the final match, both India and New Zealand have form on their side. While the Kiwis have not lost a single series at home in their summer season, India come into the final after their historic win in Australia and ruthless victory against England in home conditions.
New Zealand would like to make the most of the two-match Test series and hope to get used to the conditions as much as they can. Having lost two ICC ODI World Cup finals in a row, the Kiwis would be coming into the game at full intensity.