Australian captain Pat Cummins said that several people have forgotten their World Test Championship (WTC) final contest against India amid the excitement of the upcoming Ashes series. The veteran speedster also shared that it felt like a missed opportunity when India and New Zealand took on each other two years ago. However, Australia finished as the table toppers in the 2021-2023 WTC cycle, having won 11 out of 19 Tests. Their only series defeat was against India earlier this year as they went down 2-1 as well.

He said, as quoted by The Age: “We’ve got India in the World Test Championship final first, which I think a lot of people forgot. I think being new, it probably didn’t hit us until the game was actually played, and you saw over there [in England] New Zealand did well and you wish you were there. It feels like second time around it’s got a little bit more on it. It felt like a big missed opportunity that first one. So it certainly gives a bit more context to every series now, something big to play for.”

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However, Pat Cummins applauded the WTC final concept, adding that it provides more relevance to the smaller series as well. It is also noteworthy that, this will be India’s second appearance in the WTC final, having lost to New Zealand by eight wickets in 2021 as well.

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“The big series, say Ashes or India series where you play four or five Test matches, are obviously big battles, whereas the more common series where you play two or three in a series, it [the World Test Championship] gives them a bit more global context and something a bit extra to play for,” Pat Cummins concluded.