SOUTHAMPTON: The Indian men’s cricket team has hit the ground running ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand, and skipper Virat Kohli is ecstatic with the sun being out at the Ageas Bowl.
On Wednesday, Kohli shared a picture with teammates Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill and he captioned the post on Twitter as: “The sun brings out smiles.” The sun brings out smiles ?? @RealShubmanGill @cheteshwar1 https://t.co/lD7u5oXvf2— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) 1623242338000The Indian cricket team had landed in Southampton on June 3 and after that, every member of the touring contingent underwent a three-day mandatory hard quarantine.
At the Hampshire Bowl, the players were tested again before commencing a period of managed isolation.
Regular tests will be conducted during the period of isolation.
Read AlsoWTC Final: New Zealand are a good side, India can’t take them lightly, says Gundappa ViswanathAfter pulling off a huge Test series win vs Australia Down Under and registering a 3-1 win vs England at home the Indian team is one win away from winning the inaugural World Test Championship.
India will take on New Zealand in the WTC final at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on June 18.Players’ activity is being allowed in a gradually increasing manner after each round of negative testing, moving from exercise in isolation to small group and then larger squad activity, whilst always remaining within the bio-secure venue.
Prior to departing for England, India head coach Ravi Shastri had said that going ahead, the International Cricket Council (ICC) should look to make the final of the WTC final a best-of-three contest and it could be played like a three-match series.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand team is already in the UK for their bilateral series against England and the team will transition from the ECB bio-secure environment into the WTC Final bubble on June 15 and will be subject to regular testing prior to and post-arrival in Southampton.