World Test Championship

"Yeah, they have got a fantastic attack. Brilliant, obviously a brilliant side. Throughout we have seen the depth they have as well, certainly saw that in Australia as well. A lot of strengths in their fast bowling and spin department" said Williamson in an interview on International Cricket Council (ICC) website.

Three of the four county matches this season have so far seen at least one innings ending inside 100 runs. Home to Hampshire county, the pitch has given assistance to Pakistan pacer Mohammad Abbas and former South African pace bowler Kyle Abbott, both of whom are playing as overseas professionals for the team. Abbott was a Kolpak player before he walked into an overseas contract this year.

The Kane Williamson-led New Zealand will take on England in the first Test from June 2-6 at Lord's, London, and the second in Birmingham from June 10-14. They will then play India in the WTC final from June 18-22 in Southampton. However, Gavaskar debunked the acclimatisation theory

"India look a superior batting side. How they tackle the conditions is important. To me, India's batting will hold the key. The bowlers provide a solid back-up to India's cricket campaigns these days but the quality of batsmen will stand out in the final," Dev said.

With no warm-up matches in England against county teams, India will prepare for the five-Test series with a couple of intra-squad matches. They have a one-and-a-half-month break between the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand and the start of the five-Test series against England during which they will prepare with intra-squad warm-up games. The 24-member squad will just be enough to make two sides for these matches.

New Zealand play two Test matches against England from June 2 to June 14. It will be followed by the WTC final against India from June 18 to 22 here. "It's nice to be here (Rose Bowl). The guys can familiarise themselves. I imagine we'll probably be in the same room when we come back," said Southee. "When you come back for the final, you're a little bit more comfortable having spent some time here and use the facilities and hopefully can get out and make the most of that later in the squad game in the middle," he added.

A formal announcement, however, is yet to be made by the ICC. It is expected that the announcement will be made this week. Earlier, the final was to be played at Lord's, London, but perhaps due to Covid restrictions over there, and related issues, apparently from the organisation that manages the ground, forced the ICC to relocate the match to Southampton's Ageas Bowl Stadium.

India beat England by 10 wickets on an extraordinary second day of the only day-night Test of the series at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera. The hosts thus took a 2-1 lead in the four-match series and propelled themselves to the top of the WTC standings with 71 percentage points while England dropped to fourth with 64.1 percentage points.