Soon after New Zealand won the World Test Championship final in Southampton, losing skipper Virat Kohli spoke out about the format of the competition’s finale, suggesting a change to the current setup by replacing it with a three-match series instead to decide the winner.

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The end of the historic six-day Test saw New Zealand being crowned inaugural champions of the format, bringing an end to a two-year cycle that saw India finish at the top of the points table. Kohli acknowledged that Williamson & Co were the better side, but wasn’t convinced with the existing system in place that earned them the title over India.

Kohli maintained that he was “not in absolute agreement of the deciding the best Test side in the world over the course of one game”, but felt that “pressure applied over two days of good cricket” can’t suddenly make a team “not a good Test side anymore.”

“I think it has to be a hard grind,” Kohli said in the post-match press conference, “and something that definitely needs to be worked on in the future to really — at the end of three matches, there’s effort, there’s ups and downs, there’s situations changing throughout the course of the series, a chance to rectify the things that you’ve done wrong in the first game and then really see who’s the better side over the course of a three-match series or something will be a good measure of how things really are, so we are not too bothered by this result because we understand, as I said, as a Test side what we’ve done over the last three, four years, not just over the last 18 months but over the last three, four years.”

“So this is not a measure of who we are as a team and the ability and the potential we have had for so many years now.”

Winning captain Kane Williamson wasn’t necessarily in favour of a multi-match final though. “The one-off factor does bring a unique dynamic,” he said, “which does make it exciting and all these sorts of things, and on any given day anything can happen. We’ve been on all different sides of that statement.”

Twitter users didn’t take too kindly to Kohli’s suggestion, which came right after his side had been trumped in the final. While some wondered if the timing was right to suggest an alternative format, others pointed out that a packed international calendar wouldn’t accommodate such a series.

https://twitter.com/ThomBucksHerald/status/1407920364185784325

https://twitter.com/DennisCricket_/status/1408006619590402052

https://twitter.com/wasifkahmed/status/1407868803866845185

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