Before departing for England, India coach Ravi Shastri has said that World Test Championship (WTC) final should be a three-match affair, which he believes is an ideal assessment of a team's performance graph over a two-year period.
After the WTC final in Southampton, where India suffered a convincing 8-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand, skipper Virat Kohli echoed Shastri’s words and said that the best Test team in the world should be decided by a best-of-three final and not a one-off game.
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"Well, look, firstly, I'm not in absolute agreement of deciding the best Test side in the world over the course of one game, to be very honest," Kohli said in the post-match press conference.
"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 into the series or totally blow away the other team.
"It can't just be a pressure applied over two days of good cricket and then you suddenly are not a good Test side anymore. I don't believe in that."
According to the Indian captain, 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's 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."
The WTC final was severely affected by inclement weather and the match officials had to use the reserve day to make up for the lost time.
India were 64 for 2 at the close of play on Day 5 but the Kiwi pacers decimated their batting line-up on the reserve sixth day, bowling them out for a paltry 170 in the second innings.
Chasing 139 to win, New Zealand rode on Williamson’s 52 not out and Ross Taylor’s unbeaten 47 to overhaul the target with 7.1 overs left in the day.
Kohli further cited that the loss to New Zealand is not a true measure of their potential.
"...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, but Kohli feels it is the right way to go forward.
"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 remarked.
(With PTI inputs)
