IT IS A ONE-OFF MATCH to decide the Test champion of the world. A culmination of a two-year-long journey for both India and New Zealand. And it ends at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, starting June 18. The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) started in August 2019, ten years after the ICC approved the idea. It featured 71 Test matches in 27 bilateral series.
The WTC points table—with Virat Kohli-led India right at the top with 520 points—may not tell the full story. India has played in six series as part of the WTC, notching 12 wins, four losses and one draw. Kane Williamson’s New Zealand is second with 420 points, having played five series, winning seven Tests and losing four. Percentage points were calculated taking into consideration how Covid-19 affected tours and schedules of all the nine nations involved. These points show more parity, though this updated system was not to Kohli’s liking. India, with 72.2 per cent, is closely followed by New Zealand with 70 per cent.
The actual difference between the two teams is even less. Both sides are well balanced, led by world-class captains, have bowling attacks that the likes of Australia and England are wary of, and have batting lineups that do not give up. Both sides boast of long servants (like Cheteshwar Pujara or Ross Taylor) and exciting players (like Rishabh Pant and Devon Conway). The bowling units of both teams are comparable, especially the pacers with their right mix of pace, variety and experience. India though may just about have the edge in the spin department. And finally, there is no better stage for Kohli and Williamson to face off, their batting and captaincy contrasting in nature. Both are eager to get their hands on an ICC trophy, something that has eluded them thus far.
Esta historia es de la edición June 27, 2021 de THE WEEK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición June 27, 2021 de THE WEEK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Divides And Dividends
Contrasting narratives on the scrapping of Article 370 define the elections in Jammu and Kashmir
Playing it cool
Everybody knows what 420 means in the Indian context. But in American parlance it is something very different: four-twenty or 4/20 or April 20 denotes cannabis celebration; its cultural references are rooted in the hippie culture of the 1960s and 1970s.
The heroine's new clothes
Who else but Sanjay Leela Bhansali could bring on a wardrobe reset like the one in his just-dropped period piece—an eight-part Netflix series called Heeramandi?
AI & I
Through her book Code Dependent—shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction—Madhumita Murgia gives voice to the voiceless multitudes impacted by artificial intelligence
Untold tales from war
Camouflaged is a collection of 10 deeply researched stories, ranging from the world wars to the 26/11 terror attacks
Hair force
Sheetal Mallar, in her photobook Braided, uses hair as a metaphor to tell a story that is personal yet universal
THE WHITE TIGER GAVE ME CONFIDENCE IN MY ABILITIES
The first time Adarsh Gourav made an impression was in Ramin Bahrani's 2021 film The White Tiger, a gripping adaptation of Aravind Adiga's Booker-winning novel.
The art of political protest
The past doesn’t always remain in the past. Sometimes, it emerges in the present, reminding us about the universality and repetitiveness of the human experience. Berlin’s George Grosz Museum, a tiny gem, is a startling reminder that modern political and social ills are not modern. Grosz lived through World Wars I and II, shining a torch into the heart of darkness in high-ranking men and women—who were complicit in the collapse of the world as they knew it.
REFUELLING DYING SATELLITES
A Chennai company is making waves in the world of space tech startups
DIVERSITY IN UNITY
THE SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY IN THE US HAS SEVERAL THINGS IN COMMON, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS, THERE ARE WIDELY DIFFERING OPINIONS AND FEELINGS