In a clash of two left-arm spinners, New Zealand have preferred Ajaz Patel over Mitchell Santner as the lone tweaker in their 15-member squad for the World Test Championship final against India, starting Friday.
Ajaz has been retained in the squad after an impressive outing at Edgbaston in the second Test against England, where he delivered fine spells of 2/34 & 2/25 in the visitors’ historic win.
It isn’t just about the wickets, as Ajaz simply showed more control, consistency, and skill than his direct competitor, Santner, who lost his place after struggling on those fronts during the first Test at Lord’s.
Apart from Santner, Doug Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra have also been left out for the WTC final.
Devon Conway is all set to open the batting in the biggest game of his very young Test career so far after a stellar debut series versus England. The left-hand batsman ended as the top-scorer with 306 runs, including a Lord’s double ton, at an average of 76.54. His form at the top of the order augurs well for the Kiwis.
After allowing them to rest in Birmingham, New Zealand have also brought back regular skipper Kane Williamson, wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling, pacers Kyle Jamieson, and Tim Southee.
Williamson and Watling hadn’t featured in the second Test versus England due to respective injuries. But head coach Gary Stead confirmed they are expected to be fit and ready to go for the Indian encounter.
Stead also backed all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme, who didn’t do well at Lord’s on the comeback and was left out for Edgbaston in favour of Mitchell, to come good for the team.
“Playing in a World Cup Final is a really special occasion and I know the guys are looking forward to getting into their work here in Southampton,” the coach was quoted as saying by ICC.
“India are a world-class outfit who possess match winners all through their line-up, so we’re under no illusion about how tough they will be to beat,”
Stead added.
