Team India reached the World Test Championship (WTC) final after toiling hard for almost two and a half years.
The inaugural WTC cycle was introduced for teams to battle it out in red-ball cricket and qualify for the marquee event based on their International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Rankings.
India performed particularly well as they trumped West Indies and Australia in their backyard during the WTC cycle. Virat Kohli & Co. also defeated England, South Africa and Bangladesh at home.
But India failed to win the summit clash as they were outclassed by New Zealand in all departments.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly, meanwhile, praised India for defeating Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2021 even when their key players were missing.
“I think their [series] win against Australia was the highlight for me. Australia is always a strong team, and beating them in at home was a huge [achievement] by India. With key players missing out, it was huge that their replacements delivered. India has played consistently well and that is why they are in the finals,” Ganguly told The Week Magazine in an interview.
While Ravi Shastri, Yuvraj Singh had opined that a one-off finale wasn’t enough to judge the calibre of the top two sides, Ganguly felt that it was too early to comment on this topic.
“It is too early to say. Let this season finish. The ICC will look at a lot of things. At this stage, I would rather wait before saying anything,” he said.
The 48-year-old further added that the idea of conducting a Test tournament was a good concept as it is regarded as the purest form of cricket.
“It is a very good concept for sure. I think Test cricket is the biggest and strongest form of cricket and it should have a final. As far as the one-off Test as a final is concerned, it is the first [edition]. Things will be looked into for the future. The ICC will get feedback from all stakeholders,” Ganguly concluded.
