Ace Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin came in support of his skipper Virat Kohli’s statement, where he confessed a best of three WTC finals would have been batter. Ashwin believes his statement blown out of proportion and wasn’t taken as it should have.
After the conclusion of the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand, Virat Kohli was asked by Michael Atherton about the prospect of a one-off final. In reply, Kohli said the best of three finals would have been more appropriate.
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“I happened to hear people saying that Virat Kohli asked for three Tests to be played for the WTC Final but it is ridiculous. After the match got over, Michael Atherton had asked what could be done differently in the WTC. Virat replied in a particular context that if three matches are played, then adaptability and come back for a team are possible. Kohli did not demand anything,” said Ashwin in a video on his YouTube channel.
Kohli was not the first one to bring up the idea of best-of-three finals in WTC as India head coach Ravi Shastri had batted for the idea in the team’s pre-departure press conference ahead of the final. Kohli added fuel to the fire with his statement post India’s eight-wicket loss in Southampton as New Zealand clinched the Test mace on the reserve day.
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New Zealand won the final on the reserve day as their pace bowling lineup ran riot on India’s famed batting order. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara were overnight batsmen and were dismissed in quick succession by Kyle Jamieson. Rest of the batsmen fell like a pack of cards as India got all-out for 170, leaving New Zealand to chase 139 runs in the remaining time.
Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor dug deep to chase the target down within time and won the game with eight wickets in hand.
Talking about the loss, Ashwin said “When we lose a final, fans would be disappointed. Perhaps, billion Indians were looking forward to good news after lockdown and stuff. But it didn’t happen. Fingers crossed. Just hoping we win some other ICC tournament.”
