Published 17:04 IST, February 16th 2021
Kaif makes a bold prediction as India defeat England, warns NZ to be ready at Lord's
Kaif called on New Zealand to be ready, predicting that India would win the ongoing series and meet Williamson & Co. at Lord's for the World Test Championship.
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Taking a sly dig at England after their defeat at the Chepauk in the second Test, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif made a bold prediction on Tuesday. Amidst the noise over the spin-friendly pitch at the Chepauk, Kaif tweeted 'better team wins Test,' shunning the comments suggesting that England lost the game due to the pitch. Moreover, Kaif called on New Zealand to be ready, predicting that India would win the ongoing series and meet Williamson & Co. at Lord's for the World Test Championship.
Better team wins Test and are now favourite to take the series. New Zealand, see you soon at Lord's #WorldTestChampionship
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) February 16, 2021
With India's victory at the Chepauk in the second Test, the men in Blue have now jumped to the second position on the World Test Championship table. While New Zealand have sealed their spot in the finale, the race for the second position is still on with India, Australia and England still in the fray. England holds the fourth position just behind Australia on the table. Echoing Kaif's views, Irfan Pathan also remarked confidently that India will win the ongoing series against England.
India played well to win to this test and will win the series too. #INDvENG
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) February 16, 2021
The Men in Blue can still seal the finale berth if they manage to win the 4-match Test series either by defeating England with a result of 2-1 or 3-1. On the other hand, England can beat Kohli & Co. to the finale spot by winning the Test series with either 3-0, 3-1 or 4-0 result. For Australia to travel to Lord's, the India-England series will have to land in England's favour with either of the following results: 1-0, 2-0, 2-1. Australia can also find themselves locking horns with New Zealand, if the England-India Test series ends in a 1-1 or 2-2 draw.
⬆️ India move to the No.2 position
— ICC (@ICC) February 16, 2021
⬇️ England slip to No.4
Here's the latest #WTC21 standings table after the conclusion of the second #INDvENG Test! pic.twitter.com/bLNCVyDg4z
Ashwin, Rohit help India level series
After losing the first Test in Chennai, India made a strong comeback at Chepauk as they defeated England by 327 runs on Tuesday with a day to spare. Rohit Sharma set the tone for India's victory as the swashbuckling opener smashed 161 runs in the first innings itself helping the hosts take a massive lead. It was then local lad Ravichandran Ashwin who wreaked carnage as he skittled the Englishmen with a five-fer and then came back to smash a gritty century. Ashwin returned to haunt England on Day 4, having tormented them with both bat and ball on the previous day and removed Ben Stokes & Lawrence to kick-start the proceedings for India. Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav finally found a Test scalp to his name while debutant Axar Patel grabbed five scalps in the 2nd innings.
17:04 IST, February 16th 2021