With only one day left for the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, the excitement has reached its peak with fans eagerly waiting for their favourite stars to show the best game in the summit clash, starting from Friday (June 18) at Rose Bowl in Southampton.
Many experts of the fascinating game have already expressed their thoughts on the WTC final and picked their winners. While some believe that New Zealand have an advantage, others reckon India would be the champions.
Amid all the interesting takes, former India skipper and a legend of the captivating game Sachin Tendulkar has shared his views on the concept of the WTC final. In the WTC cycle, India played six series while the Blackcaps participated in five legs. However, they will play only one game which will decide the winner of WTC 2020-21, and that’s what Tendulkar feels should not be happening.
While speaking to News 18, Tendulkar asserted that since the teams have played 3-4 match Test series against each other before booking a place in the WTC final, the epic clash should have been a best of three series, not one fixture.
“When you play in the 50-over World cup or the T20 championships, you play each side only once, depending on which pool you are in. So then there is continuity, and you play only one final. So in that case, it’s fair to have one final match,” said Tendulkar.
“Here, in the world test championship, you (India) play four matches against Australia and four against England in India, and suddenly you make it to the final, and it is only one match. It should have been a WTC series – the final series. Ideally should be the best of the three matches. It can be decided how you play those matches – one home, one away, or so,” added the 48-year-old.
The Mumbaikar asserted that ICC would think about it in the future and meet up the challenges in order to find the solution.
“But this also means all playing teams will have to keep themselves free during this period for such a format. ICC must also have had its own challenges. Over a period of time, they will put their heads together and come to a solution,” Tendulkar added further.
