India focusing on England series, not on World Test Championship final: Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane has stressed that Team India are fully focused on the upcoming Test series against England and are not thinking about the ICC World Test Championship final.
The first Test of the four-match series is set to be played at the Chepauk in Chennai from February 5. With Australia postponing their tour to South Africa, New Zealand have already qualified for the ICC World Test Championship final, which is scheduled to be played at Lord's from June 18-22.
Thus, a lot rests on the result of the upcoming India-England series. Besides the two teams, even Australia are in the race to face the Kiwis at Lord's. However, in the pre-match video-conference, Ajinkya Rahane clarified that the Indian team are currently focusing on the English challenge and are not thinking too far ahead.
"Right now we are just focusing on this series, this Chennai game. Test Championship final is another three-four months from now. We are not thinking about that," Ajinkya Rahane said.
Team India need to beat England by 2-1 or a better margin to qualify for the World Test Championship final. The visitors, on the other hand, will need to win the series 3-1 or better to play New Zealand at Lord's.
Australia will be closely monitoring the situation as they will go through to the final if the series ends in a draw, India win 1-0, or England fail to win more than two Tests.
New Zealand deserve to be in the final: Ajinkya Rahane
Kane Williamson's New Zealand have been rampant, especially on home soil. After whitewashing India 2-0 in the Test series last summer, the Kiwis contninued their red-ball dominance by clean-sweeping both West Indies and Pakistan at home.
Ajinkya Rahane lauded the Black Caps for their ruthless brand of cricket and believes they fully deserve their place in the ICC World Test Championship final. However, he maintained that Team India are focused in the present and are not thinking about what lies ahead.
"New Zealand played really well and they deserved to be there. For us, what is important is that we are playing against England now. It is all about taking one game at a time," Ajinkya Rahane asserted.
It remains to be seen which team among India, England, and Australia face New Zealand in the ICC World Test Championship final.