Team India's captain, Rohit Sharma, has recently expressed his desire for a three-match World Test Championship (WTC) final, following his team's crushing defeat to Australia in the one-off title clash. Sharma believes that a three-match series would be more ideal for the next cycle, rather than a single Test.
India's second appearance in the WTC final was not as successful as they had hoped, after losing to New Zealand in the 2019-21 cycle. Unfortunately, they were unable to redeem themselves in the recent final against Australia, who added yet another trophy to their impressive collection. India struggled to match Australia's first innings score of 469 points, and were ultimately dismissed for 234 runs.
"I would like to play the 3-Test match series for the WTC Final. We worked hard and we fought but we played just 1 game. I think a 3-match series would be ideal in the next WTC cycle," Rohit Sharma said in the post-match press conference.
Given the increasingly crowded calendar and the demands that a three-Test series places on any host nation's schedule, it is unlikely that Rohit's wish will come true anytime soon. Wasim Khan, the ICC's General Manager of Cricket, stated last month that while the structure is constantly being reviewed, the current feedback from members is that the league and one-off final are continuing to work as they are.
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Rohit also attributed their crushing defeat in the World Test Championship against Australia to poor bowling in the first innings. However, he emphasized that no one can take away his team's good work over the last two years. On the final day, India resumed their chase, but Steve Smith took a sharp catch in the slips to get rid of Virat Kohli (49) off Scott Boland. Despite needing 280 runs more to win, India could only add 70 in a slightly longer morning session as the Australian bowlers ran riot.
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