Ian Bishop names the finalists and winner of WTC if the tournament was held in the 1980s

Team India is squaring off against New Zealand in the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final at Southampton.

This is the first time that a marquee tournament has been held to acknowledge the hard work of red-ball cricketers in 144 years.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has shared a video of former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop chatting with TV presenter Sanjana Ganesan during the washed-out Day 4 of the summit clash.

Bishop named the Windies and Pakistan as the two sides that would have made it to the WTC final had the event been held in the 1980s. The 53-year-old revealed that the formidable Caribbean team considered Pakistan and Australia as their toughest opponents.

“West Indies and at one point, and I sort of played only in the back end of the 1980s… But the great West Indies team was playing from 1979 to 1989-90. So I would think at times, Pakistan we considered our toughest opponent and sometimes Australia. But the West Indies would be in there for sure,” Bishop told Sanjana.

Expounding on the same, the cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that his nation was the undisputed champion and didn’t lose a single Test between 1980 to 1995, a record that stands till date.

“The West Indies, definitely (would have won). Listen, don’t shout at me check the records. From 1980-81 to around the early 90s, the West Indies did not lose a single Test series, that is unparalleled in the history of Test match cricket,” he reasoned.

Concluding the parley, Bishop reiterated that Windies were the toughest team to battle against when they were at the pinnacle of their success.

“So undoubtedly, before rankings, before World Test Championship Finals, the West Indies would have been the undisputed champions of Test cricket,” Bishop concluded.

Who would have been the two finalists if the #WTC had taken place in the 1980s? 🤔
Can you guess @irbishi’s answer? 😉📽️ pic.twitter.com/Ao5wDHQqXz
— ICC (@ICC) June 21, 2021