North Sound (Antigua): Excited about playing in the inaugural World Test Championships, Indian captain Virat Kohli has said that the competitiveness in the traditional format has ‘gone up two-fold’ in recent years.
The inaugural edition will see the ICC elite nations – Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies – fight for top honours across 71 Test matches in 27 series over the next two years. And Virat Kohli feels that it has upped the ante in the Test format.
“The games are going to be much more competitive and it brings a lot of purpose to the Test matches you play. It’s the right move and at the absolute right time,” Virat Kohli said during the West Indies Players Association Awards night Monday.
“People have been talking about Test cricket not being relevant or dying down. For me, the competition has gone up two-fold the last couple of years. It’s up to the players to take the challenge and go for victories,” added the Indian skipper.
The World Test Championships will end with the top two teams playing the final, in June 2021 in the United Kingdom.
Kohli asserted that the Test championships will add new excitement to the game. “That’s going to be the essence of this Test championship as well. There will hardly be any boring draws; there will be exciting draws, because everyone will want those extra points,” pointed out the Indian captain.
Kohli, whose team are preparing to take on West Indies, whose bowlers too have come into their own in home conditions, agreed that there has been a revival of sorts in bowling, and it was now up to the batsmen to match up to it.
“I don’t think us batsmen have lived up to the standard,” Kohli said stressing on the importance of the batting together as a team, rather than individuals doing well.
“Batsmanship will always be hard at the Test level, but even harder now with the Championship where every decision you make counts in the larger scheme of things,” Kohli informed.
PTI
