Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar is looking forward to the WTC Final, but not really convinced with the hype and build-up for the torunament, which he feels is "kind of missing. "There were so many breaks due to the pandemic and the other challenges in the wake of it, because of which the hype and excitement of a final is missing. When a tournament goes on without a break like a 50-over WC or a T20 WC there's a sense of continuity to it. "There's a build-up of these touranaments which is missing in this case, Tendulkar told TOI in a chat on Monday. Tendulkar believes both the teams are perfectly placed on paper to make the contest a challenging one. New Zealand, he thinks, have an edge here because of the two Tests they played against England. The series between England and New Zealand wasn't going to affect the final, allowing both teams to enter the game on equal footing? "I don't know when the New Zealand vs England series was decided. I had like to believe that it was decided way in advance, way before New Zealand booked their spot in the Final. Maybe it's a coincidence. This England vs New Zealand series was not going to contribute to the WTC Final so may be the WTC Final first and then this series (could have been staged). "This is without any doubt, another way to look at it. New Zelaland will have that slight edge because they've played the two Tests against England while India haven't had practice matches except for playing between themselves, said Tendulkar. Coming back to the continuity factor, Tendulkar recalled India playing two Tests in New Zealand in February 2020 and then playing their next Test Series in the month of December in Australia. "So there was too much gap in between for that excitement level in terms of a build up to say intact.
