Since last year’s Boxing Day Test, Australia bat Steven Smith is back at the top of Test batting rankings. Smith replaced Kane Williamson, who had dropped five ranking points. Williamson scored 14 runs against England at Lord’s before missing the second Test due to a persistent elbow injury. Williamson is currently at 886 ranking points.
According to an ICC statement, Smith is now at the top of the batting rankings in 167 Tests. He trails only Garry Sobers (No.) and Viv Richards (No. 1, 189, and 179. Kagiso Rabada, South Africa’s fast bowler, also moved up two places to be seventh in the bowling rankings. This was after a five-wicket win in the second innings against West Indies at St Lucia. Anrich Nortje’s 7-wicket match win pushed him into the top 30, his first career milestone. Quinton De Kock moved up to 12th in the batting ranking, a spot shared with Cheteshwar Pujara, named player in the match for his unbeaten run of 141 at Gros Islet.
After the series against New Zealand, England’s Test captain Joe Root fell one spot to fifth. He scored just 97 runs over four innings. Root was England’s most prolific run-scorer over the past year. He scored 1115 runs at an average of 50.68. This is close to twice the run-scorer Dom Sibley (623 runs).
Virat Kohli demands that. the best-of-3 finals decide the World Test Championships
Virat Kohli, India’s captain, acknowledged that New Zealand is the worthy winner of the inaugural World Test Championship. However, he called for future editions to be decided in series of at least three Tests between the two finalists.
Kohli stated that he was not in agreement with his team’s decision to decide the best Test side in the entire world in one game. This statement came after the eight-wicket defeat in Southampton.
If it’s a Test series, it must be a test for character over three Tests. Which team can come back in the series or blow out the other team? You can’t apply pressure over just two days of great cricket, and suddenly you aren’t a good Test team anymore. It’s not something I believe in.”
Kohli expanded on the statement he made the day before the final. He had stated that victory or loss in the one-off final would have little significance to his team. In a recent interview, Indian head coach Ravi Shastri suggested that the best-of-3 final be considered. Kohli added further flesh to this argument today.
He said, “It must be a hard grind. Something that needs to be worked around in future.” The end of three matches will show how the real world is.
So, as usual, we don’t worry too much about this result. We understand that the Test side has seen what we have done over 3-4 years and not just the past 18 months. This is not an indicator of our team’s ability or potential over the past many years.
Even though the WTC final was canceled on days one and four, it reached its climax on the reserve day. There were many standout performers, including Kyle Jamieson, Kane Williamson’s Player of the Match, and Tim Southee, who took four wickets in the second innings.
India’s Mohammad Shami played a stellar inning in New Zealand’s opening innings. Rishabh Pan’s creative counterattacking helped to achieve a final target of 139. Kohli answered a definite “yes” when asked if he believes that the quality of the cricket displayed could make it possible to have a best-of-3 final in the future.
“Absolutely. “Absolutely.
That historically Test cricket’s great series are all remembered for three to five matches. Sometimes, two teams play against each other. This series becomes unforgettable.”This must be done. This is not because we aren’t on the winning side. But, for Test cricket to be truly memorable and for this series to be memorable, it must take place over three games at most.“There will be ups and downs. There will also be two quality sides competing for each other, but there is so much at stake.”
New Zealand’s captain, Kane Williamson, acknowledged Kohli’s argument but felt that a single final was still attractive. Williamson responded to Kohli’s remarks by saying, “I suppose that the exciting part of finals is that anything can happen.” We know how fickle cricket can be, and we have seen it in other competitions and various other bits and pieces.
“The unique factor brings a dynamic that makes it exciting and everything can happen at any time. We have been on many different sides of this statement. Geoff Allardice, ICC’s acting chief executive’s office, told ESPNcricinfo on the eve that the only obstacle to hosting a WTC final like a best of three final was the lack of windows in an already choking cricket schedule. Williamson also agreed.”I think there are arguments for both sides. I suppose the challenge would be to schedule that series among all the cricket already being played. But, no doubt, the more you watch within a series, then it’s easier to find out more and reveal more.
It was an exciting match, it was still very entertaining. This is the first year that this hard competition has been held. Both teams were fully prepared for the match, and it was an exciting game of cricket.