ICC World Test Championship will add context to five-day game: Kohli

The inaugural edition of the WTC will see top nine Test teams -- Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies -- fight for the top honours in 71 Test matches across 27 series over the next two years.

India skipper Virat Kohli believes the side has done really well in recent years and will be fancying its chances in the championship.

India captain, Virat Kohli, has lauded the upcoming World Test Championships, saying it will be a ‘much-needed boost’ for the longer version of the game.

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“It is a great thing, to be honest. We are all looking forward to it because we feel that after (a few) big tours, maybe, a one-off Test or couple of Tests were not apt for the moment. But I think this (Test championship) gives a lot of context to all kinds of cricket that we are going to play,” Kohli said on Monday.

“Test cricket needed a boost. The players were always putting the effort, but from a global point of view, it was important to have an incentive attached to Test cricket in a way which the Test championship presents,” Kohli said.

More on the line

The India captain also felt that from now on, ‘all the cricketers will be even more involved’ in Test cricket. “Every session, every game that we play will be more intense, there will more on the line, it will be challenging. I am sure all the teams are going to enjoy the journey,” Kohli said.

The ICC officially launched the World Test Championship on Monday, and it will get underway on Thursday -- August 1 -- when England takes on Australia in the first Ashes Test in Birmingham.

The championship will see the top nine Test teams in the world – Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies – compete in 71 Test matches across 27 series, played over two years. The top two teams will play the final in June 2021.