New Zealand batsman Henry Nicholls called the Indian fast bowlers equal to his country's world-class swing bowlers in terms of ability, saying that he is more worried to face the spin bowling duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC). India and New Zealand will take on the Ageas Bowl ground of Southampton in the first final of the WTC, the pitch will be helpful for spinners.
Henry Nicholls, who is in great form in Test matches for New Zealand, said in an interview to PTI, "India have a very good seam attack and also have the experienced spinners like Ashwin and Jadeja. They have been consistent in all parts of the world (of late) and bring quality (to attack),”
Mohammed Shami along with Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma have proven their quality over the years which is similar to our seamers (Tren Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner) on whom we really pride ourselves on.
“So if you are facing that kind of a line-up, it’s an exciting challenge and as a group we are expecting it to be tough but also looking forward to the challenge.
“That was something that we experimented in the camp before we came over to UK. You managed to get some more turn and get some practice. So playing at a neutral venue, we need to check what the wickets will be like there. Also the guile of Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja is something that we need to be prepared for,” he added.
Indian cricketers will complete an eight-day hard quarantine period in Mumbai before leaving on June 2 for a marathon tour of the United Kingdom, where they will play six Test matches including the marquee World Test Championship final against New Zealand.
India’s squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).
Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla