WTC Final: Tim Southee leaps praises for Rohit Sharma ahead of clash against India


WTC Final: Tim Southee leaps praises for Rohit Sharma ahead of clash against India

Tim Southee and Rohit Sharma

India and New Zealand are all set for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final scheduled from June 18 to June 22 at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton. Meanwhile, NZ’s ace fast bowler Tim Southee has termed India’s batting as ‘dangerous’ while calling opening batsman Rohit Sharma a ‘tremendous’ player.

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With just a few hours to go for the marquee event, Tim Southee addressed an important virtual press conference. The Kiwi cricketer stated that he personally likes watching Sharma bat across all three formats. He added that the Virat Kohli-led side has an “exciting batting line-up” with a mix of experienced and young players.

“Rohit is a tremendous player in all three formats. He’s personally a guy I like watching bat. He can take the game away from the opposition. But I know as a bowling group that it’s a dangerous batting line-up throughout. For he’s only one of many, many very good batters in this line-up and we know we’re going to have to be on top of our game,” Southee said in a virtual press conference.

Rohit Sharma is set to open for the first time in England in red-ball cricket alongside Shubman Gill. The latter is also playing his maiden Test series in the English conditions.

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“It’s an exciting batting line-up, a mix of experienced guys and a couple of young guys who are coming to play with that freedom and the excitement that they have. Nowadays, there’s plenty of footage out. So, we will discuss footage and then come up with plans which will hopefully work,” he said.

‘Virat is one of the best players going around’: Southee

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli

The 32-year-old further leapt praises for the India skipper Virat Kohli. He mentioned that Kohli is one of the best players in modern-day cricket and the Blackcaps need to be on top of their game against him.

“As a player, you want to test yourself against the best and Virat is one of the best players going around, he is one of the modern-day greats. There are many dangerous players in this Indian team. We need to be on the top of our game. It is a one-off Test match and this is the final, we will be playing at a neutral venue. I do not think you can read too much into the last series we played against India,” the NZ fast bowler pointed out.

Tim Southee is New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker with 51 scalps to his name in just 10 games in the current WTC cycle. The Whangarei-born is expected to emerge as a serious threat in front of the Indian batsmen at the all-important final match.

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