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Michael Bevan
In a recent interview, Michael Bevan analyzed India's eight-wicket loss to New Zealand. He explained why the Indian team lost the World Test Championship final. He pointed out three reasons behind their defeat in Southampton.
Michael Beavan suggested that the Indian team was not properly prepared to play in English conditions. Lack of practice matches and overcast conditions did not let the players find the rhythm to play in England. The Indian had played just one intrasquad match to practice whereas the Kiwis had a two-match test series against England to practice.
According to the former Australian cricketer, the overcast condition suited the Kiwi bowlers more. The pitch combined with the swinging Duke's ball was ideal for pacers. The pace bowling lineup of New Zealand is strong. Moreover, the Kiwi bowlers were well adjusted to the conditions and performed way better than Indian bowlers who bowled short deliveries. New Zealand also chose to play an all-pace bowling lineup. But India fielded two spinners who got no assistance from the pitch and failed to take any wickets. The tract did not let the balls turn much and spinners were not successful on that track.
The final reason behind India’s loss in the World Test Championship
Michael Beavan also pointed out how the events of the final day put India on the back foot. The Indian team had a lead of just 32 runs at the loss of two wickets. Many experts believed that India would not win the title match at the start of day 6.
The Kiwi bowlers maintained proper line and bowled with discipline. But the Indian batsmen were careless and used an aggressive approach to counter the bowling attack. The team was bowled out for just 170 runs.
New Zealand had chased that target with minimum fuss and secured a comfortable win against India.
According to Michael Beavan, Indian batsmen were under pressure to try and change the match in their favor. They played careless shots and put themselves in a worse position.
After the WTC win, New Zealand established itself as the top nation in Tests cricket according to the ICC Test rankings. It was New Zealand’s first ICC title win since 2000.