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“We’re not going to treat England series as a warm-up to World Test Championship final” – Neil Wagner

New Zealand is scheduled to play the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) against India in Southampton.

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Sky247 Staff
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Neil Wagner

Neil Wagner ( Image Credit: Twitter)

New Zealand is scheduled to play the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) against India in Southampton. Before the ICC event, the ‘Black Caps’ will be facing England for a two-match Test series, starting from June 2 in London. Many cricket analysts and fans are considering the test series against England as a warm-up for the Kiwis before WTC.

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However, New Zealand left-arm speedster Neil Wagner thinks otherwise as he revealed that the Test series is not just a warm-up for them as the visitors will be playing to continue their good form in the purest format of the game and to show why they are one of the top Test sides.

"We're not going to treat these two Test matches against England just as warm-ups . I know for a fact we're going to get out there and pride ourselves the way we've been playing Test cricket and we want to win Test matches for New Zealand," Neil Wagner said as he took a flight from Auckland to the UK.

Before the Test series, New Zealand is scheduled to play a practice match and they have ample days in hand to make themselves comfortable with English conditions. The Kiwis also organized a camp to familiarize themselves with the Duke ball ahead of the tour. Further, the pacer believes that having experience on their side will benefit them a lot as they can learn from each other.

"But having had those little bits of training leading into it has been quite beneficial, just because it's a little bit different, and obviously adapting to it. It's been really good preparation and everybody is excited about bowling with it. Sometimes you have to control all that because there's a high expectation of the ball doing a lot and moving around but sometimes you can get there and it can be quite flat and slow as well. The nice thing about it is we've got a wealth of experience and the guys have been there before so we can feed off each other and bounce ideas off each other as well," he added.

 

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