India captain Virat Kohli has questioned the ICC for altering the points system of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC), saying the change is “confusing” and the governing body has a lot to explain.
India fell to second place in the WTC standings after the ICC decided last week to rank teams “in order of percentage of points won” in matches played.
Australia (296 points from 3 series) defeated India (360 points from 4 series) in the rankings after the review with a percentage of 82.22 compared to 75 percent for the latter.
Speaking during a virtual press conference from Sydney on Thursday, a day before India began the cue ball leg of its Australia tour, Kohli admitted that he was trying to understand the ICC’s decision.
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“It’s definitely surprising because we were told that points are a topic of discussion for the top two teams that qualify in the World Test Championship and now all of a sudden it has become a percentage of nothing,” Kohli said. “So it’s very confusing, very difficult to understand why.”
Kohli is the first test captain to react to the decision, which was recently ratified by the ICC’s committee of executive directors. Kohli, a self-admitting fan of test cricket, had previously suggested that a better way to find greater balance in the WTC could be through teams that alternate between home and away series.
According to Kohli, it would have been better for the ICC to warn teams in advance about the new methodology devised in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic to determine the WTC finalists. “If these things had been explained to us from day one, it would have been easier for us to understand the reasons why such a change has occurred. But it has happened out of nowhere. I think they should ask the ICC more questions about this and understand. why has this been done and what are the reasons behind it. “
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Until recently, Kohli’s team was the favorite to reach the WTC final. With 360 points, India topped the points table, comfortably ahead of England (296) and Australia (292), its two closest competitors. However, after the WTC was disrupted by a pandemic, which caused a massive imbalance among the nine teams in terms of series played (each was originally intended for player six), the ICC recently approved modifications to the process to determine the two finalists. In lieu of overall points, the ICC approved its Cricket Committee’s recommendation that the two finalists will be determined by the highest percentage of points earned in the matches they contested.
Consequently, as ESPNcricinfo explains here, India will need to ensure they win the majority of the eight rounds in their remaining two series, in Australia, followed by at home, against England, to reserve their place in the final scheduled for next June.
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