India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has said that the team will be taking one game at a time against England rather than focusing on the World Test Championship (WTC) finals. Rahane, who led India to historic Test series win in Australia last month, will be seen in action from Friday when India and England lock horns in the first Test in Chennai.
The first two matches of the four-Test series will be played in Chennai while the action will shift to Ahmedabad for the remaining two Tests. The first will be behind closed doors while the second will have a crowd percentage of 50. The third and fourth Test, both of which will be played at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, will also be expected to allow spectators at the venue.
While New Zealand have already qualified for the WTC final, India will be eyeing to book the berth by defeating England. The Virat Kohli-led side will aim to win the contest by margins of 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1 or 4-0 to qualify for the World Test Championship final and take on New Zealand at the Lord's. England, on the other hand, have the chance to deny India the berth and snatch it for themselves with a 3-1 or 4-0 win.
"See right now we are just focusing on this series and on this first Test here in Chennai. World Test Championship finals are still three-four months away, New Zealand played really well and they deserve to be playing the finals of the World Test Championship.
We are playing against England now, it is all about taking it one game at a time. England is a very good team, we have to play good cricket, we will see what happens after this series," said Rahane during a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
Australia also can qualify for the summit clash if the upcoming series between India and England ends up as a drawn series, or if India wins the series 1-0 or England win it by 1-0, 2-1, or 2-1 margin
