WTC Final | Ross Taylor: The unsung hero who carried New Zealand through
Cricket | June 24, 2021 18:23 ISTTaylor, who began his Test career in 2007, has quietly rolled up 14 years of Test cricket, playing 108 Tests and racking up 7,564 runs.
Taylor, who began his Test career in 2007, has quietly rolled up 14 years of Test cricket, playing 108 Tests and racking up 7,564 runs.
Kohli feels the best Test team in the world should not be decided by a one-off game like it was in the inaugural edition. The Indian unit had lost their opening Tests against Australia and England before staging a stellar comeback.
Rain and bad light played spoilsport for the most part of the WTC final but there were no "lucky" deflections off the bat or "scrappy" boundary count rule to ruin New Zealand's party.
Team India head coach Ravi Shastri congratulated New Zealand on their win in the final of the World Test Championship.
The last time India managed to beat New Zealand was back in the 2003 50-over World Cup under Sourav Ganguly when left-arm pace bowler Zaheer Khan took four wickets as India skittled out the Kiwis for 146 and won by seven wickets in Centurion.
Pujara's last Test century came in January 2019, during India's historic series win in Australia.
Not once, but twice were they in a position to put pressure on New Zealand after the bowlers impressively pulled back things in their favour. But as Kohli admitted, it was the batting frailties that cost them the title
The world's top run-getter across Tests and ODIs said the Blackcaps were the superior team.
New Zealand defeated India by eight wickets to be crowned the first-ever world Test champions in Southampton on Wednesday night, their first ever ICC title.
The bowlers, inspired by a daunting Mohammed Shami and crafty Ravichandran Ashwin, did put New Zealand under pressure, but the batting frailties, as admitted by skipper Virat Kohli, cost India the WTC title.
Ahead of the final, Kohli had downplayed the significance of a one-off contest saying that one Test cannot decide which is the "best" side in the format. Even head coach Ravi Shastri had called for a three-Test series ahead of the final.
After his side lost the WTC Final, the Indian captain didn't name anyone but expressed his displeasure at some of the players not showing enough intent to score runs which put pressure on the batting outfit.
The right-handed batsman had earlier said he would have retired had New Zealand lifted the 50-over World Cup in 2019. They lost to England in the final.
A lot of that commitment was on display against the world number one Indian team with the Kiwis bowlers out-witting star-studded lineup before Williamson and Ross Taylor combined to take the team home in a chase of 139.
India fielded both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja along with pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami.
It is first major ICC trophy for the Black Caps, who had ended runners-up at the 2019 ODI World Cup after losing the final to hosts England on boundary count.
While Ashwin ended as the highest wicket-taker, Australia's Marnus Labuschagne was the leading run-scorer in the WTC.
Tim Southee was also overwhelmed by the achievement and credited consistency for his side's success. He also spoke about the atmosphere in the dressing room while New Zealand were inching closer towards the target.
Twitter hailed New Zealand after the side registered an exemplary 8-wicket victory over India to win the World Test Championship.
Williamson was asked if the WTC victory was New Zealand's greatest achievement in its cricketing history, to which the Kiwi captain insisted that the moment was indeed "special."
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