NZ v IND 2020: Virat Kohli says World Test Championship is biggest of all the ICC tournaments

India are currently ranked at the top of the WTC points table with 360 points.

Virat Kohli | Getty

Virat Kohli has rated the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) as the biggest among all ICC events.

ICC has proposed a new Future Tours Program (FTP) which consists of a couple of extra limited-overs tournaments in the 2023-2031 cycle. In the wake of discussions about the newly proposed T20 Champions Cup (2024 and 2028) and ODI Champions Cup (2025 and 2029).

Kohli said before the first Test, “I think World Test Championship as an ICC tournament should be right up there. All the other tournaments for me they start under that. This is probably the biggest of them all as every team wants to make it to the final at the Lord's. We are no different. We are in that zone.”

NZ v IND 2020: Virat Kohli prepares for intense three more years of playing in all the formats

“We want to make sure that we qualify as soon as we can and be in that frame of mind to hopefully win that (Championship),” he added.

The Indian skipper has mentioned that the WTC has added context to the longest format and it will help the five-day games produce more results rather than teams trying to go for a draw. He also gave the example of the recently concluded Test series between South Africa and England.

The 31-year-old said, “It has made Test cricket more exciting and that's something we have experienced as a side although we haven't had too many games away from home. A couple of games in the West Indies and we haven't had a tour of Australia as a part of Test Championship. This is our first away tour since the start of the home season.

Games will be intense and teams will go for wins rather than settling for draws which is what we need to see in Test cricket. South Africa versus England series was very exciting. England won the Cape Town Test in the final hour and you will see lot more results like that because there are a lot more points on the line," he added.

(With inputs from PTI)

 
 

By Sameer Deodhar - 19 Feb, 2020

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