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Updated June 3rd, 2021 at 11:25 IST

Virat Kohli shrugs off favorites tag, says 'we are at equal terms' ahead of WTC final

Virat Kohli has shrugged off the favorite tag and said that both India & New Zealand are at equal terms during the pre-departure presser ahead of WTC final

Reported by: Karthik Nair
Virat Kohli, New Zealand
Image Courtesy: AP | Image:self
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The top two Test sides- India, and, New Zealand will be locking horns in the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship final at Ageas Rosebowl in Southampton on June 18.

Just days ahead of the high-voltage clash for the biggest prize in red-ball cricket, Team India skipper Virat Kohli has made it clear that the favorites tag is irrelevant in this one-off Test match and also mentioned that if the Kane Williamson-led side are already labeled as pre-match favorites then there is no point of him & his team boarding the flight to the United Kingdom in the first place.

'We are at equal terms': Virat Kohli

"Australian conditions should have favored Australians (referring to India's famous 2-1 Test series win Down Under earlier this year). It's how you look at the situation. If you want us to board the flight from here, feeling like New Zealand's got the edge, then there's no point taking that flight", said Virat Kohli during the pre-departure presser.

"We are going to board that flight knowing that we are at equal terms. And whichever team performs well session by session, hour by hour is going to win that championship," he added.

The Indian team departed for a grueling three-and-a-half months tour of England where they will be playing six Test matches. After the end of the ICC WTC final, the focus shifts towards the five-match Test series against England starting August 4 where Virat Kohli & Co. would be hoping to register their first Test series win on English soil after the 2007/08 season.

Can Virat Kohli the captain get third time lucky?

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli will also be looking forward to winning his first major ICC title as a captain. The batting megastar was a key member of India's World Cup 2011, and, ICC Champions Trophy 2013 triumphs as a player but has not managed to prove his mettle as a skipper in marquee tournaments. Kohli who was named India's full-time captain in January 2007 has led the Men In Blue in two ICC events. India finished as the runners-up in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 after a humiliating 180-run defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Pakistan and were knocked out from the 2019 World Cup post a heartbreaking loss to dark horses New Zealand in a rain-curtailed semi-final that was played for two days.

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Published June 3rd, 2021 at 11:25 IST

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