Ravi Shastri in favour of a best of three World Test Championship Finals

 

Indian head coach Ravi Shastri spoke to the media in Mumbai before leaving for England where his side will battle with New Zealand in the final of the World Test Championship. Shastri, however, believes that a best of three finals in the World Test Championship would make more sense as it is a culmination of two and a half years of cricket, unlike a conventional World Cup.

“In the long run, a best of three final will be ideal as a culmination of two and a half years of cricket around the globe. But we have to finish it as quickly as possible because of the FTP that will start all over again. So one-off is a one-off. The guys have earned their rights. This wasn’t built overnight. When you start being on top you have the ability to pull yourself on top,” said Shastri.

India and New Zealand will go head-to-head in the final of the inaugural edition of the competition which will be held in Southampton from June 18.

“It’s the first WTC final and looking at the magnitude of the game, it’s going to be the biggest,” Shastri added.

Shastri also talked about two different Indian sides playing different formats and how it could be the way forward in the modern game.

“At the moment it is happening because of the current situation with restrictions in travel. But you never know, in the future if you want to expand the game, especially in the shorter formats of the game then it could be the way forward. Why not?” he said.

“If you have that much volume of cricketers and if you want to spread the T20 game then that could be the way ahead. If you are thinking about Olympics in four or eight years’ time then you need more countries to play the game,” he added.

When Indian skipper spoke Virat Kohli spoke about the need to better manage the mental health of players involved, coach Ravi Shastri also echoed similar sentiments.

“You are not just talking about the World Championship. But if you want to add that as well, you have to play five Test matches in this environment in six weeks. It’s no joke,” Shastri said.

“I mean even the fittest will need a break. More than the physical part, it’s the mental part, like he had (Virat) mentioned, you know you can be destroyed mentally.

“Being asked to do the same things day in day out and then go and perform. And it’s not easy to recover if, especially if you’ve had a bad day.

“It’s important that you shuffle the guys around and keep them mentally fresh,” concluded Shastri.