NEW DELHI: With less than a week to go before the start of the World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand, the Indian batting unit looks better and more experienced than the opposition.
While India have as many as five batsmen among top 15 top scorers in the World Test Championship, New Zealand have none.
The WTC cycle began on August 1, 2019, during the Ashes.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is the highest placed, at 16th in the list, with 817 runs scored at an average of 58.35.
Part of the reason why he is so low in the run-getters’ list is because he has played just nine matches as against the Indians above him in the list who have played many more games.
Read AlsoBatting straight and close to the body key to success in English conditions, says Ajinkya RahaneIndia’s Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane believes that a batsman who loves challenge will relish the unpredictable conditions in England and said the key to achieve success there is to play straight and close to the body.Cheteshwar Pujara (818 runs in 12 matches at an average of 29.21), Mayank Agarwal (857 in 12 matches by at 42.85), Virat Kohli (877 in 14 matches at 43.85), Rohit Sharma (1030 in 11 matches at 64.37) and Ajinkya Rahane (1095 in 17 matches at 43.8) are all above Williamson.
However, barring Sharma, no Indian has been able to match or better the New Zealander’s batting average.
Spin bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, lower down in the list with 469 runs in 10 matches, too has a better average (58.62) than Williamson.
Apart from Williamson, the rest of the Kiwi batsmen haven’t been prolific.
Read AlsoWTC Final: Rishabh Pant smashes ton, Shubman Gill hits 85 in intra-squad simulation gameThe flamboyant Rishabh Pant took his senior bowling colleagues to the cleaners with an unbeaten century while opener Shubman Gill also warmed up with a polished 85 during the Indian team’s intra-squad match simulation over the last two days.Left-handed opener Tom Latham has scored 680 runs in 11 matches at an average of 40.00, Henry Nicholls has 585 runs in 10 matches at 41.78 while Ross Taylor has 469 in 11 matches at 31.26.
Wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling has 417 runs in 10 matches at 29.78.
As many as eight Indians have scored over 400 runs in WTC and all of them, except one, are averaging above 30.
Only Cheteshwar Pujara averages below 30.
Six Kiwis have scored over 400 runs and five of them are averaging above 30.
India have not played a single Test in England during the WTC campaign and it remains to be seen how they adjust to the Southampton pitch in the early part of the summer, which supposedly helps the swing bowlers.