WTC Final: Virat Kohli shares pictures of Team India’s photo session ahead of Kiwi clash
Skipper Virat Kohli has shared pictures of Team India’s photo session ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand in Southampton.
India will take on the Black Caps in the WTC final from June 18-22 at the Ageas Bowl. With chances of rain playing spoilsport, the reserve day of June 23 could come into play.
Taking to his official Instagram handle on Thursday, Virat Kohli shared two pictures of Team India’s photo session. In the first image, the 15-member squad for the WTC final is seen with head coach Ravi Shastri.
In the second picture uploaded by the Indian captain, the entire squad, including the support staff, appears in one frame.
India named their 15-member squad for the WTC final on Tuesday, leaving out Axar Patel, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, and Shardul Thakur.
The Indian team’s playing XI for the WTC final has been a matter of major debate over the last few days. It remains to be seen whether India goes in with two spinners or plays an extra seamer/extra batsman at the expense of the second spinner.
Virat Kohli in a better position to judge if winning WTC is on par with World Cup: Yuvraj Singh
Ever since the WTC finalists were decided, various comparisons have been drawn between the World Test Championship and the World Cup.
According to former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli would be better positioned to judge whether winning the WTC is the same as winning the World Cup. Yuvraj told ANI:
“I don't know. I feel the 50-over World Cup has a lot of history, Test cricket obviously has more history but the WTC is happening for the first time. Getting the number one spot is a big thing. But I cannot really compare winning the World Cup and WTC because I have not been part of both things.
“Virat Kohli would be in a better position or Rohit Sharma would be in a better position to explain that. I would say Virat more because he has won the World Cup. He was in the 2011 squad, and (now) he is the captain (in the WTC final). He would have a taste of both experiences, so he would be in a better position to compare those two titles."
Virat Kohli has scored 877 runs in 14 WTC matches at an average of 43.85 with two hundreds. He is India’s third-leading run-getter in the competition after Ajinkya Rahane (1095) and Rohit Sharma (1030).