Ashish Ranjan
Australia won the final of the 2023 World Test Championship by defeating India by 209 runs on June 11. The conclusion marked the end of the second cycle of WTC, with the third cycle commencing within a few days. The ICC (International Cricket Council) established the WTC in 2019 to prevent the longest and oldest format of the game from becoming extinct in the cricketing community.
According to former England captain and world champion Eoin Morgan, however, the format is once again undergoing difficult times. The winner of the 2019 World Cup stated that the loss of Virat Kohli as a Test captain is a massive blow to the sport, as he was incredibly passionate about the format.
“Test cricket is still incredible to me. However, this is an extremely difficult moment for it. Morgan was quoted by the Mirror as saying, “It has lost Virat Kohli as a Test captain, and he always spoke passionately about how much he loved and was dedicated to the sport.”
Notably, Kohli was one of the most ardent supporters of Test Cricket and was always vocal about its significance. The former captain of India is the fourth most successful captain in the annals of the game, having won 40 of 58 matches for a win percentage of 58.82. Nonetheless, he resigned as captain in January 2023 following India’s 1-2 series loss to South Africa. Additionally, the 36-year-old credited England captain Ben Stokes with reigniting interest in the format.
Morgan concluded, “Stokes is the same, and he has taken on a tremendous responsibility to make the game as appealing as possible.”
Ben Stokes’ England have seized Test Cricket by storm
Since the beginning of last season, Stokes has led England to victory in 11 of 13 matches as captain. Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have revolutionized Test cricket with their ‘Bazball’ manner of scoring runs at a rate of 4.80 runs per over. England’s new strategy has rendered the term “draw” irrelevant, as the team now always strives for victory.
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Test cricket requires more characters like Stokes and Kohli so that it is not just a competition between the four highest-ranked teams. England and Australia, two of the game’s oldest adversaries, will compete in the Ashes 2023 beginning on June 16. This will be a boon to the format.
