SOUTHAMPTON: The World Test Championship (WTC) is a great way to inject excitement into cricket’s longest format but the final should be a best-of-three affair, said India captain Virat Kohli after his side lost to New Zealand in a rain-hit one off title decider.

New Zealand became Test cricket’s first official world champions on Wednesday by beating Kohli’s team by eight wickets in a low-scoring final in Southampton, which was decided in the final hour of its reserve day, which was activated to make up for lost time over the first five days.

“It’s great for the game,” Kohli said of the inaugural WTC, which was launched in 2019 by the governing International Cricket Council (ICC) to create a pinnacle event for the format. “Test cricket is probably the heartbeat of international cricket. I think this format will definitely help Test cricket be exciting. It’s a great move by ICC and puts that much on the line for every Test match and it’s going to get more and more exciting from here.”

The only aspect of the WTC he did not like was that the winners were determined via a one-off final.

“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,” said Kohli, who is still waiting for his first ICC trophy as India captain. “If it is a Test series, it has to be a test of character over three Tests ...

“It can’t just be 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.”

India head coach Ravi Shastri said earlier this month that a best-of-three final would make for more drama and give teams room to stage a comeback, but ICC acting CEO Geoff Allardice poured cold water on the idea due to the difficulty in fitting it into an already crowded calendar.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson also felt scheduling would be a challenge and preferred the one-match shootout.

India’s defeat forced the cricket-mad nation into introspection, while accepting New Zealand were worthy winners of the honour.

“India fail the ultimate test,” the Times of India newspaper said as it questioned India’s team selection and their preparation for the match. “The lack of match practice in England hurt them but shouldn’t India have played an extra batsman in Hanuma Vihari?”

The Times suggested seamer Mohammed Siraj should also have been picked in the match in which India played both their spinners in conditions that gave more assistance to swing and seam bowling.

“The answers will arrive in due course but it will rankle this proud Indian team, which has towered over the rest of the Test pack for a few years now,” the daily said. “No one, after all, remembers who came second.”

New Zealand put behind their losses in successive 50-overs World Cup finals with their victory at the Ageas Bowl.

“Kiwis bury the ghosts of 2019, crowned first World Test champion,” The Hindu newspaper said on its sports page.

The Indian Express also hailed New Zealand’s victory with the headline ‘An island conquers the world’.

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir summed up the sentiment when he tweeted: “Nice guys don’t always finish last! Congrats NZ. World No.1!”

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2021