Kohli calls for double points for away Test victories
MUMBAI: The World Test Championship has already raised the excitement level in the longest format with points on offer for every match but an away win should earn a team double that is awarded for a victory at home, India captain Virat Kohli said on Wednesday.
The International Cricket Council has been determined to create a meaningful competition for Tests, which is typically played over two-innings-a-side and up to five days, and the WTC has been designed to give proper context to bilateral matches.
The Championship will see the top nine Test nations ace-off over a two-year period, scoring points based on their success and culminating in a final at Lord’s in June 2021.
World’s top-ranked Test side India lead the standings with three wins from as many matches with away victories against West Indies and the win over South Africa on Sunday.
“The importance of every game has become that much more,” Kohli told reporters on Wednesday ahead of the team’s second test against South Africa.
“In situations in a threematch series you probably would have played out a draw, teams are going to go for wins and get those extra points.
“I think it’s great for Test cricket, the matches are going to be that much more exciting is what we all feel and we can already experience that.
“If you would have asked me to make the points table, I would give double the points for an away Test win. That is something I would definitely have liked to see, maybe after the first edition.”
India notched up a convincing 203-run win in the opening Test against South Africa at Visakhapatnam with an all-round performance and would have a chance to wrap up the three-Test series with a game to spare.
‘LET’S PUT PRESSURE’
The key for South Africa batters would be to put the pressure back on the Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, feels skipper Faf du Plessis.
“I think the first innings for me was possibly the difference with us from 2015,” du Plessis said ahead of the second Test.
“You try and survive on Indian spinning conditions and with that you can become too defensive and allow the opposition to be on top the whole time. There needs to be a good combination of positive play, element of taking risks at some stage of the game to transfer the pressure on the bowling team.
“And the record speak for themselves. Specially on the spin bowling front, the two of them [Ashwin and Jadeja] have done really well in India, so you’ve to try and put some pressure back on them. Otherwise they’ll just bowl good balls all day long and one of those balls will have your name on it. The balance between attack and defence is important in the subcontinent,” he added.
Du Plessis also spoke about Mohammed Shami’s intensity while bowling. Pacer Shami picked up five wickets in the second innings and helped India take a 1-0 lead in the three-match affair. “I felt that he bowled a bit quicker than he did in the first innings,” du Plessis said.
“Therefore obviously things happened a little bit quicker off the pitch. It was a day five wicket so he had that in his favour.”