'The team which won in Australia had lost in New Zealand': Chopra names his favourite for WTC final
In a reply to a question posed by a fan on a video uploaded on his Facebook page, former India cricketer said that he believes that the balance may be tilted in favour of New Zealand.
India are set to face off against New Zealand in the all-important World Test Championship final and the excitement is already sky high. The last time Virat Kohli's India faced off against Kane Williamson's unit, they had lost the two-match Test series 2-0 despite having a full squad.
India are riding high this time around on the back of sensational Test series win Down Under and all the heroes of that squad - Rishabh Pant, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, R Ashwin - are in the squad for the WTC final against New Zealand. So could things be different this time around?
In a reply to a question posed by a fan on a video uploaded on his Facebook page, former India cricketer said that he believes that the balance may be tilted in favour of New Zealand.
"Don't rule India out but it is 55-45 in favor of New Zealand. Although they are No.2 in the Test rankings and play well at home when we talk about Southampton, they can play slightly better than us in these conditions in the first half of the English summer," Chopra said.
"They [New Zealand] would have already played two Tests there. So, there is a slight difference. The heart is Indian and will say that we will defeat them but we are not able to go to New Zealand and defeat them," Chopra added.
"It's a fact, we didn't defeat them now as well. The team which won in Australia had lost in New Zealand while it was almost a full-strength side in New Zealand. There could be problems in Southampton as well," Chopra signed off.
The WTC Final between India and New Zealand will kick off on June 18th and will be played in Southampton. After the match, India will play a five-match Test series against England.
