With the addition of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), Test cricket has taken on a new form. Several former cricketers and officials of the International Cricket Council (ICC) were worried about the future of the longest form of the sport because there were more and more rumours that it was facing a slow death.
But the WTC cycle has definitely made the game more interesting and given each Test match that is played during the cycle a real purpose.
India has done well in both WTC rounds that have been played so far. They lost to Kane Williamson and New Zealand in the 2019-21 cycle and had to settle for second place in the 2021-23 cycle, which just ended. In that cycle, Pat Cummins and Australia won the prized Test mace.
Usually, when you play in an ICC event, you get to play against almost every other team in the tournament.
This was the case during the 1992 World Cup and the 2019 World Cup, which was held in England and Wales. However, India hasn’t had the chance to play against their biggest rivals Pakistan even once since the WTC began.
The ICC also announced the schedule for the next WTC cycle, which will run from 2023 to 2025. As expected, the schedule does not include any matches between the two neighbouring countries. Even though it seems strange, political tensions between the two countries have kept them from playing cricket with each other for a long time. This has kept fans from seeing some exciting action.
Aakash Chopra, a former cricketer who is now a broadcaster, tried to get the top cricketing body to listen to his view on the matter by posting it on his YouTube channel.
“You don’t compete with all teams. But this is an ICC event at WTC. It’s been four years… Can you think of an ICC event that doesn’t involve India and Pakistan? This is impossible. It always happens at the beginning of the competition, which is great for business. “It gets the highest rating and makes people money,” Chopra said.
Chopra criticised the ICC for not having a single match between India and Pakistan in the previous WTC cycles. He also said that all of the games played during the cycle should be under the control of the highest cricketing governing body, not just on paper.
“So, WTC is not an ICC event?” Chopra continued. “It’s a mace from the ICC, and they host the final. So, the ICC should be in charge of all the matches that happen during the cycle. There hasn’t been a single India-Pakistan series in the last 6 years.”
“This is also an event of the ICC. If it’s not clear, say so. “Call it bilateral cricket and admit that you made WTC just to make Tests more interesting,” Chopra said.
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