India's batting needs to get used to English conditions ahead of the five-Test series against England in August-September after their dismal show in the World Test Championship final, in which they aggregated just 387 in two innings. However, that may not happen as the team management's request for practice games against county teams has not been accepted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). ....

Indian team head coach Ravi Shastri attributed New Zealand's victory in the World Test Championship (WTC) final to conditions even though skipper Virat Kohli and fielding coach R Sridhar had earlier said that the playing XI chosen for the Hampshire Bowl Test had taken conditions out of the equation. ....

Unbeaten Sweden topped Group E after beating Poland on a brace from Emil Forsberg and a goal from Victor Claesson at the Saint Petersburg Stadium here. ....

Indian team skipper Virat Kohli and his New Zealand counterpart Kane Williamson are in disagreement over a one-off World Test Championship (WTC) final. While Kohli wants a series of three Test matches to decide a WTC final winner, Williamson said the "one-off factor" brings excitement like in finals of other formats. ....

Indian team skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday blamed his batsmen for not being brave enough to put the New Zealand bowlers under pressure and for setting a target that was 30-40 runs short in the World Test Championship final defeat. ....

New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Bradley-John Watling, who displayed courage to withstand finger injury pain to return to field after lunch on the last day of his Test cricket career, said the World Test Championship final victory was the perfect reward for the hard work the team has put in two years. ....

New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, who hit the winning runs in the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final, called the title win after the eight-wicket victory over India as the "highlight" of his career. ....

New Zealand coasted to an unlikely eight-wicket win on the sixth -- and reserve -- day of the World Test Championship final against India at the Hampshire Bowl on Wednesday. ....

Bangladesh's tour of Zimbabwe for a one-off Test, three ODIs and an equal number of T20 Internationals will go ahead as scheduled after the Zimbabwe Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) gave Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) the permission to host the series in July. ....

Pace bowler Mohammed Shami said that his team would need to score as many runs as possible on the reserve day and have some solid plan in place to bundle out New Zealand if India are to win the World Test Championship final at Hampshire Bowl here on Wednesday. ....

The World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand was marred by racism controversy on the fifth day after the International Cricket Council (ICC) had to tell security to evict two spectators for abusing New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor. ....