Aakash Chopra, ex Indian cricketer and currently a sports commentator, has raised a a number of valuable points about the process through which a winner is decided in World Test Championship.
By all means, WTC is a long and exhausting tournament, only a two years of Incredible journey can help a team to book a seat in the finals, and playing a final comes with its own merit and magnitude.
First of all, the question is why a neutral venue? By the prevalent rule of sports, the table topper should host the finals but as the story goes, the venues are decided by the ICC and it should be neutral by all means because a five day match in home conditions might give an influential edge to the home side.
On his Twitter, Chopra posted his concern after the conclusion of India vs Australia Test series:
Why WTC Finals happen only in England? Neutral venue but it mirrors non-Asian conditions. Why does it have only one game? Why not have a Test series to determine the World Test Champion? Why not have one test each at home and one at a neutral venue? Ambitious…yes, of course.
No tournament lasts two years to find its winner. So, please don’t throw ‘final should be one knockout game’ in my direction. Test cricket is a very unique sport…lasts five days. Championship lasts two years. Finals can surely be a 3-match series.
That makes a big difference to the already decided method but a neutral venue is really a necessity more than a choice. It should be a series to decide and not a single final match, that could make a massive impact on the result.
Reading and adapting to the conditions is no easy task, and sometimes, things go away from a team’s hand pretty quickly when a they fails to read the situation. But the pressure of final cannot be development into three match series, it will definitely cause a flaw in its magnitude.
Well, the thing is that upcoming two finals have already been decided and they will take place at the Oval in 2023 and the Lord’s in 2025. The concern will become more interesting if England manages to reach the finals.
That’s the talk of future but now India and Australia are prepared for WTC finals 2023 and the Oval will witness a new champion in June.