WTC Final: Virat Kohli will struggle if conditions favour swing and seam in England, says Ex Kiwi skipper Glenn Turner

If the conditions in Southampton favour the swing and seam, the batsmen, including India captain Virat Kohli, will struggle during the World Test Championship (WTC) final, according to former New Zealand skipper Glenn Turner.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Turner has pointed out that the Indian batsmen struggled to bat in New Zealand last year and the conditions are going to be similar in Southampton.

India and New Zealand lock horns in the maiden WTC final, starting June 18 at the Rose Bowl stadium. India are going into the summit clash with terrific wins against England at home and a Test series victory against Australia Down Under.

However, during their tour of New Zealand in early 2020, the World No. 1 side was thrashed 2-0 as the likes of Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult had owned the talented crop of Indian batters. India had managed to go past 200 only one in as many as four innings with India skipper Kohli scoring just 41 runs in two Tests.

"I don't wish to speculate on whether Kohli's reflexes have deteriorated. But if the pitch and overall conditions favour seam and swing, he is also likely to struggle along with others as was demonstrated in New Zealand," Turner told The Telegraph in an interaction.

"Once again, conditions are going to be pivotal. I think it is true to say that the home conditions, where batsmen are brought up, play a significant part in the technique and skills of a player. Although it seems that in more recent times, pitches in India can assist seam bowling, they still can't be compared to conditions in New Zealand. This was exposed when India last toured New Zealand. English conditions are generally closer to those in New Zealand," Turner added further in the interview.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's current captain Kane Williamson, who is once again chasing his first-ever ICC trophy, has assured that the heartbreak of losing the 2019 World Cup final to England from two years ago did not torment the BlackCaps.

"No, I do not think so, certainly not something that the guys have spoken about," Williamson told the International Cricket Council (ICC), pointing out that "a different side" would be playing a "different format" at the Rose Bowl.

"The focus is definitely on the transition from not playing much cricket or from where the guys who have played white-ball cricket to just change into that test format. The match ... was a very memorable one and obviously, it had some controversy, and it had everything, and people loved watching it at the end of the day. That is why people got a lot out of it," he further added in the interview with ICC.

On being asked what would winning the WTC final mean to the New Zealand national team, Williamson responded," Oh yeah, it is something new and different. They have looked to bring about more context to the Test format and I think we saw it at the end of the competition, teams trying to push their case for qualifying which made way for a lot of exciting results. We saw in Australia, in New Zealand, a lot of teams had a chance to get through.

I thought it proved to be great adding that context and for us to see ourselves in the position we are in the finals now. It is exciting. We are looking forward to that when we are taking on the top-rank side in the world. We know how strong they are and the depth they have. So exciting to be playing against each other at a neutral venue."