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Virat-Kohli
The 2nd day of the World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand ended with most of the session being called off due to bad light. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and decided to put India to bat first. India’s openers got India off to a decent start. Rohit Sharma scored 34 runs while Shubman Gill scored 28 runs. India somewhat struggled to find momentum after the dismissal of their openers. However, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane managed to keep India in the game. At the end of Day 2, India had scored 146 runs at the loss of 3 wickets. That said, here are 3 talking points of Day 3 of the World Test Championship final:
1. The absence of spinners in New Zealand’s starting XI
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has excluded spinners from New Zealand’s starting XI for the World Test Championship final. The Kiwis have four pace bowlers and one medium pace bowler as part of their bowling lineup. Williamson’s decision to not play any spin bowler has raised quite a few eyebrows amongst the cricket fraternity. The pitch in Southampton could generate spin in the last few days of the WTC final. Hence, India might have an advantage since they have opted to play 2 spin bowlers in the starting XI of the World Test Championship final.
2. The opening partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill
India’s opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill performed decently on day 2 of the World Test Championship final. In such unfavorable conditions for a batsman, the Indian openers managed to score some runs for their team. India’s opening partnership of 62 could be immensely valuable given the challenging batting conditions in the World Test Championship final.
3. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane save the day for India
The duo of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane performed extremely well on Day 2 of the WTC final. Kohli has scored 44 runs, while Rahane scored 29 runs. India will heavily rely on the duo of Kohli and Rahane to keep scoring runs in the World Test Championship final.