Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra was not happy with the playing conditions announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday (May 28) for the upcoming ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand.
According to the rules, the ICC World Test Championship mace will be shared between India and New Zealand if the World Test Championship (WTC) final ends in a draw or a tie after five full days of the Test match (450 overs) between June 18 and 22 in Southampton, England.
The former batsman feels that sharing the WTC trophy after toiling hard for two years against some of the best teams of the world will leave a sour taste in the mouth, saying “it doesn’t sound right”.
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Chopra said on his YouTube channel on Saturday (May 29): “If the final match is a draw, both the teams will be declared as the joint winners. I do understand that you do not want a tie-breaker but if it is a two-year-long tournament and still you cannot call a team the champion, it just does not sound right, personally, it leaves a sour taste in the mouth.”
The cricket analyst wasn’t also satisfied with the ICC’s idea of using the reserve day only due to bad weather conditions in the upcoming WTC final in Southampton.
He further explained, “Another thing is that a reserve day has been kept but that reserve day will only be used if the overs from the first five days are left due to the weather. The sixth day will not be used if the match ends when you needed say a couple of wickets and the opposition team required 125 runs.
Very seldom Test matches end in a draw nowadays and if there is a tinge of green on the wicket then it might also end in three and a half days but then again you could have a scenario where 450 overs are not enough. These are two very strong teams.”
Suggesting three tweaks to the existing playing conditions of the WTC final, Chopra noted: “When you have kept the sixth day as reserve day then what’s the harm in adding another day? Play as long as you don’t get a winner. It has not happened for a long time but timeless Tests used to take place earlier.”
He signed off by saying, “When you already have the sixth day then why not use it to get the result. Secondly, the final could have been a best of three events. The third Test match will only be played once you don’t have a winner after the first two matches.”
