Pakistan will have “revenge” on their mind for a recent off-field snub when they take on New Zealand in the T20 World Cup is Sharjah, looking to build on the historic high of beating arch-rivals India in their tournament-opener.

For a lot of Pakistani fans, the team may have already won the World Cup by ending its 29-year-old World Cup jinx against India but the Babar Azam-led team has already shown the hunger for going all the way.

Babar’s team would be eyeing another big scalp in New Zealand, the team which recently withdrew from a scheduled series against Pakistan after landing there, citing a security threat which, according to the host country, did not exist.

The pullout hampered Pakistan’s World Cup preparations which took a further hit with England too withdrawing from the tour.

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CRICKET
New Zealand`s variety of fast bowlers will challenge Virat Kohli, feels Parthiv

Former Team India wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel feels Virat Kohli needs to give himself a bit of time in regards to his batting ahead of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand.

“I think probably he will have to give himself a bit of time and try to think what he did in 2018 – where he got a number of hundreds. So, probably he is better equipped than he was in 2014, but there will be challenges and there will be challenges of a variety of fast bowlers. The reason being — it is not a one-dimensional fast bowling attack,” Prithvi Patel said on Star Sports show Game Plan.

Virat Kohli`s growth in English conditions has been phenomenal, especially if compared to the Indian skipper`s below-par 2014 tour to the one in 2018. In 2014, he managed only 134 runs in five Tests at a poor average of 13.40. Four years later, he hammered 593 runs in the five-Test series. Virat Kohli averaged 59.30 with two hundred in 2018. Considering this, if India wants to beat the Blackcaps in Southhampton, then they will surely need the same herculean effort from the captain.

Former India opener Virender Sehwag also feels Kohli needs to be patient and force the Kiwi bowlers to bowl at him rather than on the fourth and fifth stump outside off. “I think Kohli should show patience and he should leave a lot of balls. They must be made to pitch in the line and then he can score,” he told ANI.

WTC Final: Virat Kohli and Co had better watch out for these Kiwis

“He has to show patience and I am sure he knows that. I remember in 2014 when he didn`t score runs, he came back and spent time with Sachin Tendulkar and went back (in 2018) and scored a lot of runs.”

Virat Kohli will lead India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand from June 18 at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton to decide the first champion side of the longest format. The WTC final will be followed by the five-match Test series against England.

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In 2018, he played the lone ranger in India’s first innings with an unbeaten 132 in a match that India eventually lost by 60 runs.

For Pujara, it was a breakthrough—his first hundred in England.

A point to prove for India in the WTC final

In his own words, he was a different player after that. It showed in his next overseas tour, Australia, where he scored three hundreds to lead India to a historic victory.

‘There was a time when people used to say I have scored runs only in India, then I started scoring runs in England, Australia, South Africa,’ Pujara said. ‘Scoring runs overseas means a lot to batters and I am no exception. I also enjoy scoring runs overseas and when it is in England, you feel better as a player. You are complete. You feel you can score runs wherever you go, and it came at the right time.

That year had started on a tough note for the India No 3. The pressure had built on him in the South Africa series after he averaged a disastrous 16.67 in six innings.

To prepare for the England series in August-September, he turned to County cricket. It did not help. Pujara managed only 172 runs in 12 innings at 14.33, and went past 40 only on one occasion during his stint with Yorkshire.

Not surprisingly, in the series opener at Edgbaston, Pujara found himself dropped from the playing XI. When he was included in the second Test at Lord’s his returns were one and 17 runs. A better innings of 72 followed in the second innings at Trent Bridge, but Pujara’s position was still not secure when the fourth Test began at the Rose Bowl, Southampton.

Then, something clicked. As wickets fell around him, Pujara stood rocksteady. After England had scored 246, India were tottering at 195 for eight. The India No 3 batted with the last two batsmen to help India take the lead.

It was not just the runs he scored. Pujara showed that he had the ability to shepherd the tail, and with a strike rate of 51.36, that he could force the pace if he wanted to. He had done both in spin-friendly wickets before, but here he was doing it in pace-friendly conditions, against the moving ball. For him, it was about passing the ultimate test in batsmanship for a sub-continent player. The cracking lofted shot to the long-on fence off Stuart Broad when the second new ball was taken stood out because no one had seen Pujara play it before. Earlier, he had reached his hundred by stepping out and lofting spinner Moeen Ali over his head.

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‘The team was in trouble, I had to bat with the tail, we were six or seven down without enough runs on the board so I had to take charge and accelerate, make sure that the team reaches a reasonable total,’ he said. ‘I just tried to play some shots, have a partnership with the tailenders. Scoring runs in England is a different feeling altogether. I enjoyed that.’

So how does he think he will feel when he takes guard at Southampton again?

‘It gives you a psychological advantage. I always felt that experience in the past can help you make the right decisions, but cricket is a sport where you need to be in the present,’ Pujara said. ‘That experience will definitely help me, but at the same time, you need to start fresh, need to assess the conditions again. Even if you are playing at the same venue, the pitch can be a little different from what you have played in the past. You still need to be prepared for something you are not expecting.’

India’s opponents in the WTC final, New Zealand, will feel much more at home in the usual wet and windy conditions of Southampton.

‘It is a true Test match venue,’ Pujara said. ‘All over the UK there is always help for the fast bowlers, but Southampton has some help for the spinners also. It is a fair contest where you need to work hard to score your runs, an even contest.’