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World test Championship
The inaugural World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand is being played at Southampton. But the finals have been badly hit by rain and the excitement for the match has washed away with it.
The match would probably be a draw between the two teams despite having a Reserve Day. Thereby, the first WTC title would have to be shared between the two top teams in the ICC Test rankings.
The World Test Championship is a good step towards promoting Test cricket. But it had numerous flaws in its format from the beginning. Some of the drawbacks of the World Test Championship are as follow:
All the teams did not play against each other
In an ICC event, it is expected that all the teams would play each other or the teams would play in group stages. Then the top teams would move to the next stage. But in the WTC, the teams just needed to play three home and three away series during the qualifying period.
Moreover, the World Test Championship had included Tests that were planned under the FTP. The Test matches played were decided by the member nations. Thereby, India and Pakistan did not play a Test against each other during the championship. The two nations have not played a long format game against each other since 2007. But ICC missed the chance to organize it even at a neutral venue.
Australia and India also did not play against Sri Lanka during the league phase of the championship.
Equal points were given for home and away Test wins
In ICC rankings, away Test victory always carried greater weight than a home Test victory. But for WTC, each series had 120 points up for grabs. Thereby, a team could play just a single home series consisting of two matches and get 120 points. Whereas India, Australia, and England played four to five-Test against each for lesser points. Australia won more away games and lost some close contest against India and England. But New Zealand won just six home Tests and achieved 360 points. The only away Test series New Zealand won was against Sri Lanka.