Strengths, weaknesses of India, New Zealand

Both teams have met in 59 Tests, in which 21 have been won by India. New Zealand have emerged victorious in 12 games while 26 have ended up in a draw.

Smart Stats: # 5 – In the last 5 matches in ICC events, all matches have been won by New Zealand. This includes two matches of WTC, two matches of T20WC and the World Cup Semi-Final in 2019. India last won against New Zealand in an ICC event in World Cup 2003.

# 11 – This will be the 11th time India will be playing a final in ICC event going past Australia (10). This includes 2 matches for Champions Trophy 2002 when a different ODI was organised on reserve day due to rain on the first day.

# 4 – Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin has picked up 67 wickets in WTC till now. He needs 4 more wickets to go post Stuart Broad (69) and Pat Cummins (70) to become leading wicket-taker in the inaugural WTC.

# 5 – In terms of most sixes hit in WTC, Indian opener Rohit Sharma is at the second spot with 27 sixes after Ben Stokes (31). Rohit will need to hit 5 more sixes to take the first position.

# 4 – For India, Rohit Sharma slammed the most hundreds (4) in the World Test Championship. He will reach the joint-top spot alongside Marnus Labuschagne with a century in the final.

# 1 – Ishant Sharma has so far taken 199 wickets in away Test matches. He will become the third Indian pacer to complete 200 away wickets after Kapil Dev (215) and Zaheer Khan (207).

# 2 – Tim Southee has picked up 598 wickets across formats so far and is only 2 wickets away from the 600 wickets. He will be the first Kiwi pacer and second bowler after Daniel Vettori (705) to reach the landmark.

# 4 – Ross Taylor has scored 17996 runs in his international career and needs just 4 runs to complete 18000 runs in International cricket. He will be the first player from New Zealand to achieve the milestone.

# 9 – Ravi Ashwin has 409 wickets to his name in 78 matches played in Test cricket. He is 9 wickets away from surpassing Harbhajan Singh (417), and to reach the second spot after Anil Kumble (619) among Indian spinners.

# 61 – This will be the 61st Test for Virat Kohli as the Indian skipper going past MS Dhoni (60).

# 200 – This will be the 200th International game for Trent Boult, and will become the 19th Kiwi player to reach the milestone.

# 105 – Kane Williamson has scored 7895 runs as captain in international cricket so far. He needs 105 more runs to become second Kiwi captain after Stephen Fleming (11561) to reach the 8000-run mark. He will be the second captain after Virat Kohli (12343) to achieve the milestone among active players.

INDIA

Strengths:

:: Well-rounded bowling: India have variety in their bowling attack. They have experience and youth to pick from and all their bowlers are different. The variety in the bowling attack could keep the New Zealand batsmen on their toes.

:: Presence of game-changers: Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja are just two of the players who can change the game in a session. Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma are the others. Pant has shown, especially in Australia, how he can change the fate of a Test match in one session.

:: Experience in spin: Spin duo R Ashwin and Jadeja have travelled to England multiple times. While Ashwin's off-spin was quite handy in Australia, Jadeja has been India's standout spinner in overseas Tests. Both of them have improved as batsmen as well, providing India with depth.

Weaknesses:

:: Opening batting: India's opening batting pair hasn't been thoroughly tested. While Rohit Sharma has been brilliant in India, he has played only one Test in England. The moving ball could spell trouble for him. Shubman Gill is inexperienced and handling Tim Southee and Trent Boult in England will be different from handling Aussie pace bowlers on flatter, hard surfaces.

:: Kohli's brain fade: While Virat Kohli leads from the front with the bat and is aggressive in disposition, his captaincy suffers from moments of brain fade. In the past, we have seen him make decisions that have cost India Test matches and thereby the series. While Kohli has had his reasons for those decisions like playing Kuldeep Yadav in England on a green top or resting Bhuvneshwar in Centurion, South Africa, (both in 2018) the losses have brought forth criticism.

:: No warm-up: Unlike New Zealand, who played two Test matches in England in the lead-up to the World Test Championship final, and managed to get all their players warmed up, India are going into the summit clash without any competitive match practice. All that the Indians got were a few net sessions as well as a three-day intra-squad match simulation.

NEW ZEALAND

Strengths:

:: Swing bowling: The New Zealand bowling line-up is known for variety. But their new-ball bowlers, Tim Southee and Trent Boult, are probably the most difficult bowlers to face in Test matches at the moment. Their ability to move the ball, especially the Dukes ball, in seam-friendly English conditions can challenge the best batsmen in the world.

:: Captaincy: In Kane Williamson, New Zealand have a very able calm and cool leader. He doesn't appear to show any aggression and almost looks non-existent unlike his Indian counterpart who is always chirpy and expressive. But Kane gets his job done. He prepares very well for every Test.

:: The South African element: The Kiwis were worried about their opening batting. But Devon Conway answered the call with a double century at Lord's against the likes Anderson and Broad. Conway was the man-of-the-series. The Kiwis have another South African in Neil Wagner, who is relentless with his short deliveries and was the one who showed India the way how to get Steve Smith out when he trapped the Aussie batting mainstay multiple times in 2018-19. It is yet to be seen if he gets to play.

Weaknesses:

:: Spin: New Zealand are weak in their spin. Their spinners just don't have the experience the Indian spinners, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have. Their first-choice spinner Mitchell Santner is injured and replacement left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, though impressive in the second Test against England at Edgbaston, has played only nine Tests.

:: Batting frailties: The batting has been too heavily dependent on skipper Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor. With the arrival of Devon Conway, they can breathe a bit easy but unlike India, their batting doesn't run deep. If the Kiwis lose early wickets, they can easily be put unde pressure.

:: Lack of game-changers: New Zealand don't have any other than one or two of their pace bowlers who, if they take a clutch of wickets, can put India under pressure. New Zealand's batting doesn't have anyone who can hit back and change the game in a session.

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