Fantastic challenge to play against India: Kane Williamson on World Test Championships final

By PTI

LONDON: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is excited to face India in the World Test Championships (WTC) final next month as he considers showdowns against Virat Kohli’s men to be a “fantastic challenge”.

India and New Zealand square off in the final of the inaugural World Test Championships in Southampton from June 18.

“When we play against India, it has always been a fantastic challenge and so it is really exciting to be playing against them,” Williamson said in a video posted by the ICC on its Twitter handle.

“It’s really, really exciting to be involved in the final, obviously to win it would be that much better,” said the 30-year-old considered one of the best current batsmen in the world.

Talking about championship and how it progressed, Willimson said, “We saw the contests in the WTC has brought real excitement.

“The games were really tight such as in the India-Australia series and our series against Pakistan as well where you had to really fight hard to get the results, which is really great.”

New Zealand pacer Neil Wagner admitted India possess fast bowlers who can exploit the English conditions but said the wickets can change anytime and become flat also.

“India has a lot of quality fast bowlers who have done well in different conditions, they can swing (the ball) under overcast conditions but when the sun comes out it (wicket ) is flat and nothing happens.(English) Conditions can change throughout and so I am not getting carried away too much, trying to control the controllables.”

India batsman Hanuma Vihari, who is in England for a county stint with Warwickshire, said it would be a great feeling to play for his country in the WTC final.

“I am excited but I would want to be in that moment and not to get too much carried away by the importance of the situation,” he said.

“But as a sportsman, to play for India in the final of inaugural World Test Championships is always a great feeling,” said the 27-year-old batsman who is currently playing county cricket in England.

The majority of the Kiwi players have reached the UK as they play a two-match series against England starting June 2 before the WTC final.

The Indians are expected to reach here in the first week of June after a hard quarantine in Mumbai.