'Very disappointed' - Shane Warne not happy with New Zealand for playing WTC Final without a spinner

The inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) Final began on the second day at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Ahead of the game, India announced their playing XI going in with three pacers and two spinners in Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. On the contrary, New Zealand decided to play four front-line pacers and went with the option of seam bowling all-rounder in Colin de Grandhomme.

They benched the left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel who did extremely well in the second Test against England at Edgbaston. It was more to do with the overcast conditions on offer than the ability of the player. However, former Australia cricketer Shane Warne is not at all happy with the Kiwis for their decision to not play even a single spinner in the final.

His tweet came when India had played around 40 overs in their first innings and the footmarks were already visible on the pitch. Warne reckoned that if the conditions stay dry, the spinners will definitely come into play and with India having two of them, a score of around 275 to 300 runs will be huge.

“Very disappointed in Nz not playing a spinner in the #ICCWorldTestChampionship as this wicket is going to spin big with huge foot marks developing already. Remember if it seems it will spin. India make anything more than 275/300! The match is over unless weather comes in! (sic)” his tweet read.

Here’s his tweet:

Very disappointed in Nz not playing a spinner in the #ICCWorldTestChampionship as this wicket is going to spin big with huge foot marks developing already. Remember if it seems it will spin. India make anything more than 275/300 ! The match is over unless weather comes in !

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) June 19, 2021

India lose three wickets until Tea

Meanwhile, India started decently well after losing the toss thanks to their openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Both the batsmen tackled the swing on offer with the new ball and added 62 runs for the opening wicket. However, Kyle Jamieson and Neil Wagner got both of them out respectively in quick succession. At lunch, India were two down and lost Cheteshwar Pujara in the first hour of the post-lunch session.

But Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane fought their way through to the Tea which was taken early due to the fading light owing to the overcast conditions.