Two of the biggest rivals in cricket, Australia and New Zealand, are all set to take on each other in a two-match test series starting on February 29 in Wellington.
However, ahead of the start of the heavyweight clash between the two sides, Australian opener Usman Khawaja said that they are focused on winning more and more matches, which will help to improve their position in the World Test Championship.
Currently, in the WTC points table, the Blackcaps are sitting on top with 36 points and a percentage point of 75. Followed by Team India, who are in the second position in the WTC table.
The defending champions, Australia, are currently placed third in the points table with six wins,three losses, and one draw, for a total of 66 points and 55.00 percentage points.
Ahead of the clash between the two sides, Khawaja said that they will closely look into the points table when the finals of the World Test Championship come close.
Khawaja said, “It’s always at the back of your mind. We talk about it here and there, but this far out, it’s a bit hard because we know all we need to do is win games to keep that percentage up.”
Khawaja further stated that “you probably don’t start to take real notice until maybe the end of this year when India starts (their tour of Australia), you think, ‘okay, what’s the scenario’ because the World Test Championship then is quite close. But at the moment, it’s just about winning as many games as we can and not worrying about the points table because if we’re winning, that will literally take care of itself.”
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Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc
New Zealand Test squad: Tim Southee (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, and Will Young.
