Virat Kohli are set to play their first away Test in the ongoing World Test Championship (AP file photo)
Indian skipper Virat Kohli rated the World Test Championship above any other International Cricket Council (ICC) event despite the cricketing body focusing more on white-ball cricket in proposed 2023-2031 Future Tours Programmer (FTP) cycle. As per the proposed FTP cycle, apart from ODI World Cup and T20I World Cup, the ICC also aims to have a T20I and ODI Champions Cup.
“I think World Test Championship as an ICC tournament should be right up there. All the other tournaments for me they start under that. This is probably the biggest of them all as every team wants to make it to the final at the Lord’s. We are no different.
“We are in that zone. We want to make sure that we qualify as soon as we can and be in that frame of mind to hopefully win that (championship),” said Kohli in a press conference on Wednesday ahead of the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington.
Kohli feels that World Test Championship has made Test cricket more exciting despite the Indian team not having played much cricket away from home.
“It has made Test cricket more exciting and that’s something we have experienced as a side although we haven’t had too many games away from home. A couple of games in the West Indies and we haven’t had a tour of Australia as a part of Test Championship. This is our first away tour since the start of home season,” said Kohli.
The 31-year-old expects the two-Test series against New Zealand to be a gruelling contest.
“Games will be intense and teams will go for wins rather than settling for draws which is what we need to see in Test cricket. The South Africa versus England series was very exciting. England won the Cape Town Test in the final hour and you will see lot more results like that because there are lot more points in line,” he said.