While thickish clouds continue to persist over the ground, it is being said that match will begin at the scheduled time. Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bowl against Virat Kohli's squad. The New Zealand captain said that the team will play with 5 pacers, no spinners.


There was no play possible on the first day of the World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand in Southampton on Friday owing to incessant rain. The match was scheduled to start at 3 pm (IST) but the weather ensured that the pitch at the Ageas Bowl was covered and the toss was delayed


The ICC has kept a reserve day to make up for time lost because of inclement weather. The forecast for Saturday is good for the first half of the day, suggesting there is only 30 percent chance of rain in the afternoon session, followed by a bit more in the evening.


India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah


New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Will Young.


What Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson said ahead of the final?


"Every team has their challenges, and some people see ours as being a slightly smaller population. But we are just looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead, and committing to the sort of cricket that is important to us."
Kane Williamson, New Zealand's captain ahead of the WTC final.

 

"This is not one-day cricket, this is not a T20 game that finishes in a few hours. This a hard-brand of cricket, that we take a lot of pride in. And a great example of that was what you saw in Australia."
Virat Kohli India's Captain ahead of the WTC final, as quoted by ICC.