Monty Panesar, the former England spinner, believes Tim Southee will trouble India the most in the ICC World Test Championship final at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
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The ICC World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand is garnering a lot of attention. New Zealand are playing two Tests against England before the big final while India are playing an intra-squad match. There are many key players in both teams who will change the course of the ICC World Test Championship final from both India and New Zealand. However, former England spinner Monty Panesar belives that Tim Southee holds the edge for New Zealand against India.
Southee took six wickets in the Lord’s Test and became only the second Kiwi bowler since Richard Hadlee to feature twice on the Lord’s honours board. In addition, Southee is the only player to have dismissed Indian skipper Virat Kohli 10 times combined across all formats.
“I think Tim Southee will trouble the Indians the most in the swinging conditions. He is quite clever. He draws the batsman in by bowling slightly wide of the crease and slightly fuller. And that’s gonna be the danger ball for the Indian batsman. He’s going to lure them into hitting a half volley into the covers. Southee will look to swing that ball. So that’s the ball the Indians need to watch out for,” Panesar said to Sportzoclock.
In the past, the Indian cricket team have played two games in Southampton in 2014 and 2018. In both the Tests, India has lost by 266 and 60 runs respectively. The pacers might have held firm in Southampton, but spin has also played a vital role. Moeen Ali, in particular, has enjoyed huge success against India in Southampton. On top of that, Panesar believes that New Zealand’s quartet of bowlers also makes them intimidating.
“I think New Zealand look slightly the better side. The reason being they have a lot more variations. They have a left-armer, right-armer and the tall bowler Jamieson as well. And that’s a lot more difficult for a batsman to adjust to. So NZ will be hoping that the Indians will be preparing against the likes of a right armer and a left-armer and practicing with the ball swinging, because that is where it is going to be really testing for India,” Panesar added.
Jamieson was the star in the previous series against India, taking a five-wicket haul in Christchurch and also chipping in with the bat. With the likes Trent Boult, Southee and Neil Wagner, the New Zealand bowling has often delivered the goods for the side in the ICC World Test Championship.
India will be aiming to break their eight-year jinx in ICC events. New Zealand, on the other hand, will be looking to win an ICC event for the first time since the 2000 Champions Trophy. In that tournament, they managed to beat India in the final.
New Zealand drew the first Test against England at Lord’s. In the second Test, they have managed to take the lead with solid knocks from Will Young, Ross Taylor and Devon Conway.
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