19 June,2021 04:51 AM IST | Mumbai | Harit Joshi
The Hampshire Bowl makes for a depressing sight as rain ruins Day One of the World Test Championship final between India and NZ yesterday. Wet weather is expected to hamper play on other days too. Pic/Bipin Patel
Although Day One of the World Test Championship final was washed out at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Friday and overcast conditions are likely to persist during the course of the match, India skipper Virat Kohli is unlikely to change the playing XI that was declared on the eve of the match.
Fielding coach R Sridhar
New Zealand will finalise their playing XI at the time of the toss and India too have the option of changing their line-up till then. However, India fielding coach R Sridhar hinted that the 11 had been decided after taking into consideration the weather and pitch conditions.
"I think the 11 which has been announced is the 11 that takes the pitch and conditions out of the equation.
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"It is an 11 which can play and perform on any given surface, in any given weather conditions. Having said that, the toss is not yet over, so a decision [on the playing XI] could be taken at the time of the toss," Sridhar said on Friday.
It may be recalled that India's decision to play two spinners (R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav) despite overcast conditions at Lord's in 2018 had backfired badly as the visitors lost by an innings and 159 runs.
With the ICC keeping a reserve day, there is still a strong possibility of having a five-day match.
Also read: WTC Final: Past is passe for Ajinkya Rahane
Rain has been forecast for most of the days which means that players will be on and off the field regularly. Keeping the players in a good mental space will be a challenge, felt Sridhar.
"To keep them in a good mental space, that is something that is very important because they are going to be on and off the field with the weather so they will have to know how to keep their concentration going, switching on, switching off," he said.
Meanwhile, the players from both camps took to darts and table tennis to keep up their competitive spirit, hoping for the weather to improve.
Also read: WTC final: Shane Bond predicts Williamson will win toss, bowl first; NZ will win
