The much-awaited World Test Championship (WTC) is all set to kick-start with the first Ashes Test between England and Australia at Edgbaston on August 1.
South Africa will begin their World Test Championship campaign during the highly-anticipated India tour later this year. Subsequently, the Proteas will face England (home), West Indies (away), Sri Lanka (home), Pakistan (away) and Australia (home) in their WTC fold but skipper Faf du Plessis is wary of the fact that their Championship will start with the India tour.
“You feel like you want to play for something in Test cricket, especially for the Proteas who have been involved in some real crackers. It’s refreshing. I think we as the players are looking forward to it,” Sport24.co.za quoted Du Plessis as saying.
“Any team will say that within a calendar year or so on the circuit, the toughest part of touring is probably playing in India. It’s a tough start to the Championship for us. Everyone is going to have to play in India eventually, so we might as well start there,” he added.
The World Test Championship has been introduced by the ICC to give greater context to the traditional format of the game and will be played over the next two years. It will feature 9 of the 12 Test-playing nations, each of whom will play a Test series against six of the other eight teams. The top two sides will then contest in the final at Lord’s in June 2021.
ICC on Monday (July 29) officially launched the World Test Championship wherein a total of 71 matches will be played across 27 series over two years.
India is the top-positioned team in the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings followed by New Zealand and South Africa.
“We’re a Test team that is very mature and experienced, so we’re probably a year away from some old and experienced heads leaving the game. Right now we’re a team with really good Test players, experienced players, and then the two or three young guys that are coming in and will be the future,” Du Plessis said.
He also hailed Test cricket as the ‘purest form of the game’.
“I think that Test cricket is in a really healthy state. All the three format players will still tell you that Test cricket is the purest form of the game. I think fans see that as well. Test cricket is still the ultimate,” Faf remarked.
South Africa’s tour of India will kick-start on September 15 with a three-match T20I series while Test series will commence from October 2.
