Virat Kohli expects Test Championship to make matches more competitive

[MenInG]

Test matches in recent years have got more competitive, and the ICC World Test Championship will only make it more so, Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, has said.

Kohli's love for the red-ball format is no secret, and he is now excited by what the Test Championship has to offer.

"The games are going to be much more competitive and it brings a lot of purpose to the Test matches you play. It's the right move and the absolute right time," he said on Monday, 19 August, at a discussion during the CWI/WIPA awards night, at which the Indian team were guests.

"People have been talking about Test cricket not being relevant or dying down. For me, the competition has gone up two-fold the last couple of years," he went on. "It's up to the players to take the challenge and go for victories.

"That's going to be the essence of this Test championship as well. There will hardly be any boring draws, there will be exciting draws, because everyone will want those extra points."

England and Australia in the Ashes, and Sri Lanka and New Zealand, have begun their Championship campaigns. Both series have seen bowlers play crucial roles, with the teams not able to pile on big totals. Kohli, whose team are preparing to take on West Indies, whose bowlers too have come into their own in home conditions, agreed that there has been a revival of sorts in bowling, and it was now up to the batsmen to match up to it.

People have been talking about Test cricket not being relevant or dying down. For me, the competition has gone up two-fold the last couple of years.
Virat Kohli

"I don't think us batsmen have lived up to the standard," he said, stressing on the importance of the batting coming together as a team, rather than individuals doing well. "Batsmanship will always be hard at the Test level, but even harder now with the Championship where every decision you make counts in the larger scheme of things."

India and West Indies begin their campaigns in the competition on Thursday, 22 August. Kohli, whose side are also hoping to hold on to their No.1 spot on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings, wants consistency from his men.

"It's about continuing the same work we've done and making sure we're consistent enough like we have been over the past couple of seasons."

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1318795

 

[MenInG]

Kohli is right - the SLvNZ and Ashes series are prime examples of this - the Test Championship idea is good and should make for great cricketing encounters.

 

[Rellu_Katta]

the champiosnhip will catch public eye once we have all teams played atleast a series... too early to say how much that would be but would def be a right step in the right direction

 

[Ram Shekhar]

First this guy needs to score in pressure situations and then talk. Such a dud when there's an ounce of pressure.

 

[satheesh]

every body can talk Mr:Kohli .... now do it yourself on the field rather than repeating what you did in that semi final

 

[Ram Shekhar]

every body can talk Mr:Kohli .... now do it yourself on the field rather than repeating what you did in that semi final

All knock out matches he played for us. He failed in all of them. Even in the CT 2017 semifinal. He is a choker. It doesn't matter how many runs he scores. Not worth it.

 

[Sir-fraz]

i expect some great innings from kholi. he has been in great touch since the overseas tours this past year.

has to play some memorable innings since he failed in SF this WC

 

[Markhor]

I respect Kohli for using his public position to talk up the Test Championship and Test cricket generally.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

every body can talk Mr:Kohli .... now do it yourself on the field rather than repeating what you did in that semi final

2012 Kohli would be ashamed to see this version of Kohli.

 

[Gilly]

The point system is OK but I would have preferred that all matches have the same points.

Make the series a simple 2 test series, in the ashes it will only be the last two test matches that the points count. Same for 3 & 4 test series.

So it would be 60 points for a win.
Only the last two tests of each series carry points.

The current ashes series could come alive again if the last two tests carried the points for the test championship, every series the last two tests would always carry importance of championship points.

This would make every match in a series important.