The Indian team, which has been sitting on the number one chair in the ICC Test rankings for five consecutive years, was considered as a strong contender to win the title of ICC World Test Championship. However, New Zealand was also being called a contender for the title win, but considering the past performance, India had more chance, but this opportunity was lost by the team led by Virat Kohli. After the title win, captain Virat Kohli made strange excuses.
“First of all, many congratulations to Kane Williamson and his team. He has shown great consistency and big heart, and got the result in three days. New Zealand did a great job in this pressure game. Performed and kept us under pressure throughout the Test match. The first day was washed out by rain and then later when the game started it was difficult to maintain the momentum. We bowled well in the first innings.”
Captain Virat Kohli said after the match,
“This morning (Reserve Day) made the difference, where their bowlers executed their plans properly and did not give us a chance to score runs. We needed to score more runs. I think That’s 30 or 40 runs short in the fourth innings. We couldn’t even get four quick wickets from him.” Indian team captain Virat Kohli is not disappointed as to why he didn’t make changes in the playing XI.
Captain Kohli further said,
The final match of the World Test Championship was to start from Friday. In such a situation, on Thursday itself, the Indian team had announced its playing XI. The match did not start on Friday due to rain. At the same time, New Zealand chose their playing XI at the time of toss i.e. on Saturday and fielded five bowlers, but captain Virat Kohli remained on his last last 11. Even after losing the title match, he does not regret it.
“I don’t regret announcing my XI in advance, because you need an all-rounder in the team, but we unanimously decided that this is the best XI we can take on the field. We felt That’s our best combination and there is depth in the batting as well and spinners can make an impact at the last minute, but that didn’t happen.”
At the same time, regarding WTC and Jamieson, captain Virat Kohli said, “Jamesson has come well in international cricket – good field with the ball, and he can also bat very well. He has had a very good game and he is man of the order.” The match deserves the award. It’s great for the game (WTC) and the more importance Test cricket is given, the better it will be for international cricket. It’s a good move by the ICC. Test cricket is the heartbeat of the game. It’s a long summer season ahead and we are really looking forward to the next series (Test against England).”