Brendon McCullum picks his favorites for India vs NZ WTC final

Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum disclosed his favorite team for the forthcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final. The final clash between Team India and Kane Williamson's New Zealand will be played in Southampton. It will commence on June 18. Speaking to Sports Today, Brendon McCullum claimed that the New Zealand team would hold an advantage heading into the WTC final. The former stated that NZ would play two-match Test series against host nation England before the grand finale, and because of this, NZ is likely to win the WTC final. New Zealand will commence the England tour on June 2 at the Lord's. The second Test against the Joe-Root-led side will take place between June 10 and 14.

India to land in the UK on June 3

The Indian cricket team is currently in quarantine in Mumbai. All the players and the support staff are likely to reach England on June 3. The entire team is going to be in managed isolation. This means that they will be allowed to train only after the necessary negative RT-PCR tests in Southampton. Kane Williamson and the team have already started their training sessions and have played a practice match. Considering the practice match took place at Southampton, the venue of the WTC Final, Brendon McCullum thinks it will be 60-40 in New Zealand's favour because they will have more practice than team India.

Virat Kohli and the team are likely to play an intra-squad practice match before the WTC final. The team will be traveling with a 20-man squad with 4 players in reserve as well. The ICC has also confirmed that if the match results in a draw or a tie, both the teams will be crowned as joint winners. Additionally, there will be allocation of a Reserve Day to make up for any lost time during the regular days of the Final.

Team India full squad

Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain) Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R. Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance). 

New Zealand full squad

Kane Williamson (Captain), Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Ross Taylor, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Devon Conway, Tim Southee, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, BJ Watling (wk), Will Young.

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