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Updated May 24th, 2021 at 11:27 IST

Monty Panesar does SWOT analysis of India & NZ batsmen, points out India's key weakness

Monty Panesar has revealed why New Zealand batsmen will have an edge over their Indian counterparts in next month's ICC World Test Championship final

Reported by: Karthik Nair
Monty Panesar, New Zealand
Image Courtesy: AP | Image:self
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Ahead of the much-anticipated WTC final, former England spinner Monty Panesar has come forward and said that the New Zealand batsmen will have an edge over their Indian counterparts due to their better ability to play the moving ball.

India and New Zealand will be facing each other in a one-off Test match in the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship final at Ageas Rose Bowl, Southampton between June 18-22.

'If the ball is swinging and moving': Monty Panesar

"At the moment there is a lot of rain around. If the weather stays like this then it will be an interesting battle between the Indian and New Zealand seamers. The New Zealand batsman also play the moving ball better than Indian batsmen. So, that, that would be quite interesting to see if the ball is swinging and moving at some stage during the Test match, how the Indian batsmen, stand up to it compared to the New Zealand,” said Panesar while speaking to PTI.

How the moving ball has troubled the Indian batsmen in the past?

While the moving ball has managed to pose tough questions to the Indian batsmen on numerous occasions in the past, it came back to haunt them in the all-important ICC 2019 World Cup semi-final clash against the dark horses New Zealand as they ended up losing their top-order even before the completion of the first 10 overs with hardly anything on the board. In fact, it was the new-ball duo of Trent Boult, and, Matt Henry who did some irreparable damage in the Powerplay overs as a result of which the runs were hard to come by for India.

Coming back to the first semi-final that was contested at Old Trafford in Manchester, the Indian bowlers had done a tremendous job in restricting New Zealand to a manageable total of 239. However, their run chase got off to a disastrous start after being reduced to 5/3 and then 24/4. When the Men In Blue were in a hopeless position at 92/6, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50) and Ravindra Jadeja (77) carried out the rescue act. The duo added 116 runs for the seventh-wicket stand and at one point, it seemed as if a fourth World Cup final appearance was on the cards. 

However, with the asking rate climbing up, both batsmen had to take risks and Jadeja perished by playing a rash stroke off Trent Boult as he was caught by skipper Kane Williamson at mid-off. The onus was on MS Dhoni to finish things off in style and he kept the fans and viewers on their feet by slashing Lockie Ferguson to a six to the on-side. However, a sharp throw from Martin Guptill on the following delivery saw Dhoni short of his crease when he was running back for a risky second run in order to take the strike. 

The Indian resistance was cut short post his dismissal and it meant that they had to wait for another four years to win their third 50-overs World Cup trophy. The two-time world champions were bundled out for 221 as the Black Caps won the contest by 18 runs to qualify for their second consecutive World Cup final.

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Published May 24th, 2021 at 11:26 IST

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