Indian skipper Virat Kohli had batted for best-of-three finals to decide the winners of the World Test Championship (WTC) in the future after his side’s eight-wicket loss against New Zealand in the final of the inaugural edition of the competition last week. While he insisted New Zealand were deserved winners of the prestigious Test mace, he said he was ‘not in absolute agreement’ with the idea of deciding the world Test champions on the basis of just one Test.
India and New Zealand had locked in the one-off final in Southampton earlier this month with the Kiwis emerging on top after outclassing India by eight wickets. Two days of play were washed out due to rai, forcing the final into the reserve day but New Zealand managed to get the better of India on the final day.
Apart from Kohli, the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, and India’s head coach Ravi Shastri had also backed the idea of best-of-three finals to decide the champions of WTC. Recently, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was asked about his views on Kohli’s suggestion. The former India captain said ICC will look into a lot of things as the season progresses and that it was too early to say anything.
“It is too early to say. Let this season finish. The ICC will look at a lot of things. At this stage, I would rather wait before saying anything,” Ganguly told The Week magazine.
Ganguly, who himself is a huge admirer of the longest format of the game, praised ICC for introducing World Test Championship to add value to the format which was losing its sheen. He called Test cricket the biggest and strongest format of the game.
“It is a very good concept for sure. I think Test cricket is the biggest and strongest form of cricket and it should have a final. As far as the one-off Test as a final is concerned, it is the first [edition]. Things will be looked into for the future. The ICC will get feedback from all stakeholders,” said Ganguly.
Kohli-led India are currently enjoying their break in England post the WTC final and will return to action in August when they lock horns with hosts England in a five-match Test series. India will be hoping to bounce back from the WTC final loss and script history in England this time around.
