India captain Virat Kohli has called for the ICC to make the World Test Championship final a three-Test series after his side lost to the Black Caps this morning.
Kohli and India were beaten by the Black Caps by eight wickets in the one-off Test in Southampton this morning, meaning New Zealand were crowned champions of the inaugural tournament.
The Indian captain said at the post-match conference he feels the championship needs to be decided by a three-Test series at least.
"I am not in absolute agreement of deciding the best Test side in the world over the course of one game," Kohli said.
"If it is a Test series, it has to be a test of character over three Tests - which team has the ability to come back in the series, or totally blow away the other team.
"It can't just be pressure applied over two days of good cricket and then you suddenly you are not a good Test side anymore. I don't believe in it."
The comments echo those made by coach Ravi Shastri before the final and add to Kohli’s previous statement that the result would not carry too much significance for his team.
"It has to be a hard grind and something that definitely needs to be worked around in the future," Kohli added today.
"At the end of three matches, where there's effort, there's ups and downs, there's situations changing during the course of the series, a chance to rectify the things you have done in the first game, and then really see who is 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 a Test side what we have done over the last three, four years, not just over the last 18 months. This is not a measure of who we are as a team [with] the ability and the potential we have had for so many years now."
Despite Kohli playing down the match, he admitted it still had plenty of quality cricket on display with New Zealand getting standout performances from the likes of Kyle Jamieson, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and Tim Southee while Mohammad Shami and Rishabh Pant’s late flourish on the final day added another twist to the match.
Kohli said such performances add to the case for a best-of-three series though.
"If you saw the way the game went, with whatever time we got on the field, why wouldn't you want to see two more Tests of the same teams battling it out and, eventually, being the worthy winners of the World Test Championship?
"Historically all the great series that you've seen in Test cricket, you remember them over a period of three matches or five matches perhaps, with two teams going against each other and those series become memorable.
"This definitely has to be brought in. I'm not saying this because we're not on the winning side, but just for Test cricket and for this saga to be absolutely memorable, it has to happen over a period of three games minimum, so that you have a series to remember.
"There are going to be ups and downs throughout, with two quality sides going at each other, knowing that there's so much on the line."
Kohli’s opposite acknowledged his argument but believes the one-off tag attached to the match added to its attractiveness.
"I suppose the exciting part to finals is that anything can happen," Williamson said in response.
"We know how fickle cricket is and we've seen it in other competitions, in other World Cups and in all other bits and pieces.
"The one-off factor does bring a unique dynamic, 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."
On the eve of the final, ICC's acting chief executive officer Geoff Allardice had told ESPNcricinfo that the one hurdle to hosting anything like a best-of-three WTC final would be the absence of any window in an already choking cricket calendar. Williamson agreed.
"I suppose there's arguments for both sides, and I guess the challenge would be scheduling that series among a lot of cricket that's already on, but no doubt, the more cricket that you have within a series, the more you do find out and the more it does reveal itself.
"But in the same way it was a really exciting match. It's the first time that there's been this competition on, and both teams were fully geared for the game, and it was a brilliant game of cricket."
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