With less than two weeks to for the final and Team India already touching down in England, the excitement over the maiden World Test Championship final is heating up. Given India's current form, both home and abroad, fans and experts alike are putting their money on India for the showdown but India's lack of success with the duke ball in English conditions is making many skeptical.
Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh also opined that India don't exactly have the odds in their favour and felt the final should have been a three-match affair instead.
"I feel in a situation like this, there should be a best of 3 Tests, because if you lose the first one then you can come back in the next two. India will have a slight disadvantage because New Zealand are already playing Test cricket in England," Yuvraj told Sports Tak.
"There are 8-10 practice sessions but there's no substitute for match-practice. It will be an even contest but New Zealand will have an edge."
Yuvraj further added that a lot will depend on Indian openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma, who will need to acclimatise to the conditions as quickly as possible.
"Rohit Sharma is very experienced now in Test matches. He has almost 7 hundreds, 4 hundreds as opener. But both Rohit and Shubman Gill have not opened in England ever," Yuvraj said.
"They know the challenge, the Dukes Ball swings early. They have to get used to the conditions quickly. In England, it's important to take it one session at a time. In the morning, the ball swings and seams, in the afternoon you can score runs, after Tea, it swings again. As a batsman, if you can adapt to these things, you can be successful."
