The launch of the World Test Championship (WTC) by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to promote Test cricket turned out to be a great move as the event attracted huge viewership from all over the world, and interest in this format of the game was re-established among cricket enthusiasts.
Notably, the WTC is conducted in a two-year cycle, with teams from different nations competing in the tournament to acquire the top two spots. They will then lock horns in the final for the coveted Test mace.
The event commenced for the first time in 2019 and has so far undergone two successful cycles. While New Zealand won the inaugural edition of WTC, the most recent WTC 2021-23 saw Australia emerge victorious and lift the trophy by defeating India. Meanwhile, the schedule for the third cycle of WTC (2023-25) has also been announced by the ICC. However, former India opener turned cricket commentator Aakash Chopra is not thrilled with the fixtures of the upcoming event.
Assessing the WTC 2023-25 schedule on his official YouTube channel, Aakash slammed ICC over no India-Pakistan match in the Championship. He further stated that one couldn’t even imagine an international event without the India versus Pakistan battle.
“You don’t play against all teams. But this is WTC, it’s an ICC event. It has been 4 years now… can you imagine an ICC event without India vs Pakistan? This can never happen. It’s always at the start of the tournament so it gets off to a great start commercially. It gets the highest rating and people make money,” said Aakash.
“So, is WTC not an ICC event? It’s an ICC mace, they host the final. So, all the matches that take place in the cycle should be in the purview of the ICC. It will be 6 years, and you didn’t have a single India-Pakistan series. This is also an ICC event. If it’s not, make it clear. Call it bilateral cricket and accept that you have made WTC just to glamorize Tests,” he added.
It is worth mentioning that arch-rivals India and Pakistan have not played any Test against each other since 2007 due to political tension between the two nations. The two sides have also not competed in any bilateral series after 2012-13 and only face each other in ICC and ACC events.
