WTC final: Rohit a 'tremendous player', he can take game away quickly, says Southee

Southampton [UK], June 16 (ANI): New Zealand pacer Tim Southee on Wednesday said that his side would be required to be at their best against India in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final.
India and New Zealand will lock horns in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, beginning June 18 at the Ages Bowl, Southampton.
"Yeah, I think Rohit Sharma is a tremendous player in all three formats, he is a guy I love to watch. He can take the game away from the opposition. As a bowling group, we know India has a dangerous batting lineup throughout and Rohit is just one of many very good batters in this Indian team. We know we would be required to be at our best," said Southee while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.
Talking about the prediction of rain at Southampton from Friday, Southee said: "We have had two beautiful days in the build-up so far, we know there is rain predicted for the match, but we do not know whether it will hit us or not. We are trying to control the things we can control, we cannot control the weather."
New Zealand defeated England 1-0 in the two-match Test series after outclassing the hosts in the second Test by eight wickets.
"We have had a great start to the tour, we played two Tests against England, it has been great preparation for us. We had a number of guys who had good performances in that series and we are now looking forward to the ultimate goal of this tour -- WTC final," said Southee.
"As a player, you want to test yourself against the best and Virat is one of the best players going around, he is one of the modern-day greats. There are many dangerous players in this Indian team. We need to be on the top of our game. It is a one-off Test match and this is the final, we will be playing at a neutral venue. I do not think you can read too much into the last series we played against India. It is an exciting batting lineup, there is a mix of experience and youth, nowadays there is plenty of footage around, we will look at that and we will come up with our plans," he added.
New Zealand WTC final squad: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, BJ Watling, Tom Blundell, Colin de Grandhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult, Matt Henry. (ANI)