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Kohli calls for a ‘more balanced format’ for World Test Championship

by Wisden Staff 2 minute read

India captain Virat Kohli believes that alternating between home and away series for every team, and making them play equal number of games at both locations within a given time frame, will give a better balance to the World Test Championship.

India defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs in the second Test in Kolkata on Sunday, November 24, and with it, registered their seventh straight win in the World Test Championship. With 120 points up for grabs in each series, India’s three successive clean sweeps make them comfortably seated at the top of the tree, with 360 points – 244 ahead of the second-placed Australia, and 68 more than that of all teams combined.

With the gulf between teams being visibly high, Kohli acknowledged his team’s consistency, but admitted that it was unfair to boast about their own dominance, considering various other factors in other, ongoing series.

“I think a more balanced format would be one series home, one away,” Kohli said in Kolkata, after India’s win. “We’re playing very good cricket, but we’ve played only two Tests away in the WTC. And you’re talking about an Ashes, where we saw the level of cricket and the intensity at which those series were played. Pakistan is playing Australia for the first time in Test championship. So it is very tough to judge a team.

“You can praise our team on the performance, yes, but to say that we’re dominating like no other team is a very subjective thing to say.”

Australia would’ve played the same number of games as India after the conclusion of their second Test against Pakistan, but with the games spanning just two series, they would’ve contested only for 240 points, as opposed to India’s 360. Moreover, they had a much tougher challenge first up, facing a higher-ranked England in their own conditions, compared to India, who’ve played one series away from home so far, that too against the eighth-ranked West Indies.

“We’ve played three series so far,” Kohli added. “If by four series, it was two home, two away and we had 300 points, then you can say we’re playing really well. We are definitely playing good cricket, but I don’t think there should be any kind of tags attached to any kind of teams.

“In the WTC, even if we make the finals, there’s only one game. So whoever plays well [in that match] wins the championship. So it doesn’t matter how many points you have at the end of the day, you’ve to play good cricket to win. A good format would be one home, one away, and we keep that balance and keep moving forward.”

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