India captain Virat Kohli echoed head coach Ravi Shastri’s views on the best of three WTC finals to decide future world Test champions, saying he doesn’t believe one match is sufficient to decide the best Test side in the world.
Kohli’s comments came after India lost to New Zealand by 8 wickets in the ICC WTC final in Southampton, but he said the result did not play a part in his opinion. Kohli believes future iterations of the tournament decider should be at least a best-of-three series.
“I am not in absolute agreement of deciding the best Test side in the world over the course of one game,” Kohli said after his team’s eight-wicket loss in Southampton.
If it is a Test series, it has to be a test of character over three Tests – which team has the ability to come back in the series or totally blow away the other team. It can’t just be pressure applied over two days of good cricket and then you suddenly you are not a good Test side anymore. I don’t believe in it.”
Kohli feels a multi-game final would also capture the essence of Test cricket much better than a one-off showdown.
‘I think it has to be a hard grind and something that definitely needs to be worked on in the future to really — at the end of three matches, there’s effort, there’s ups and downs, there are situations changing throughout the course of the series…
‘…A chance to rectify the things that you’ve done wrong in the first game and then really see who’s the better side over the course of a three-match series or something will be a good measure of how things really are.’ Kohli maintained the loss to New Zealand is not a true reflection of their achievements in the two-year WTC cycle.
‘…So we are not too bothered by this result because we understand, as I said, as a Test side what we’ve done over the last three, four years, not just over the last 18 months but over the last three, four years.
‘So this is not a measure of who we are as a team and the ability and the potential we have had for so many years now.’ Scheduling a best of three final amid a packed international calendar will be a big challenge for the ICC going forward. Kohli said one tends to remember a hard-fought series a lot more than a single contest.
‘I think this definitely has to be brought in. I’m not saying this because we’re not on the winning side, but just for Test cricket and for this saga to be absolutely memorable.
‘I think it has to happen over a period of three games minimum so that you have a series to remember because there are going to be ups and downs through and through with two quality sides going at each other knowing that there’s so much on the line,’ he added.
