- The just-concluded World Test Championship Final being played between India and New Zealand was a first-of-its-kind showpiece event generating enormous interest amongst cricket enthusiasts. The most deserving team in New Zealand won the rain truncated match convincingly. However, there is no denying the fact about the modalities governing the Test Championship deserves a relook for consideration into the implementation of the same in the future. Any sporting event billed as Finals inherently carries a hallowed ring about the contest evoking tremendous interest and following befitting the billing.
PC: Fayiq Wani
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) sponsored World Test Cricket Championship Finals was indeed eagerly awaited though the pandemic-induced challenges did turn upside-down the Future Tours Programme (FTP) schedule itself. Of course, the two deserving teams on the back of consistent performances over the period under consideration made it this far. In hindsight, it could be argued about the decision to organize the Finals in England where the weather could prove to be more than a decisive factor in the eventual outcome. Even though the recently concluded Test match had a reserve day factoring in the unpredictable weather conditions prevailing in England, the very fact that two full days of cricket was lost owing to persistent rains will not be lost on anyone.
- Any other venue where uninterrupted five days of cricket being played could have been chosen is an apparent question popping out from fans and enthusiasts of the game, alike. And the answer is probably no. Right from the scheduling as well as the pandemic restrictions in place in different cricket-playing nations would have not allowed the Finals to be organized elsewhere. Thus, England emerged as the obvious venue considering the infeasibility of all other available options to stage such a big match. I guess, the ICC was constrained with the logistical issues and hence, had to finally settle for England as the hosting venue.
PC: and
- On this count, well-known ex-England player Kevin Petersen himself questioned the suitability of staging the Finals in England after two full days were rained out. But in the end, whatever playing was available proved to be just enough to eke out a result. Further, there are many yesteryear stalwarts raising concerns about the decision to go ahead with only one Test match rather than three-match series to decide the eventual winner. Make no mistake, the prospect of scheduling the best of three Finals would be a mouth-watering spread for cricket-crazy enthusiasts.
- However, practically thinking aficionados would again spell out the challenges, especially considering the packed international calendar across the major cricket-playing nations, of staging an extended three-match Test series as impractical given the tight schedules. From a purely cricketing point of view, one match would not do justice in deciding the winner and as such, the ICC should consider tweaking the FTP calendar to accommodate the three-Test match series to decide the World Test Championship. If the calendar could be tweaked to accommodate T20 cricket leagues like IPL, why not the original format of the game
