Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra opined that it doesn’t matter how good Team India played in ICC World Test Championship, the fans will always only remember the team which won the final match and grabbed the trophy.
Team India lost the World Test Championship final match against Team Blackcaps led by Kane Williamson. New Zealand batted very well and went on to chase the target with 8 wickets in hand. And Kane Williamson and company were successful in getting their hands on the trophy after India had mace for 5 consecutive years under Virat Kohli. Meanwhile, Captain Virat Kohli lost his third consecutive ICC trophy, after losing WTC mace.
Virat Kohli hasn’t won an ICC trophy as captain till now comparing this with his predecessor Dhoni who has won many trophies for India. MS Dhoni is the only captain of the 50-over World Cup (2011), Champions Trophy ( 2013), T20 World Cup (2007).
Kohli’s counterpart and one of the members of Fab-4 Kane Williamson finally got his hands on the trophy after performing well consistently over the years. New Zealand was crowned as the inaugural World Test championship on the 23rd of June.
Runs scored in the first 100 innings as Test Captain:-
5449: Virat Kohli @ 58.0
5127: Ricky Ponting @ 57.6
4780: Clive Lloyd @ 51.4
4613: Alan Border @ 56.3
4613: Graeme Smith @ 48.1
4416: Alastair Cook @ 47.5
3563: Stephen Fleming @ 38.7#ViratKohli— ComeOn Cricket 🏏🇮🇳 (@ComeOnCricket) June 25, 2021
One bad session was the reason behind India’s defeat: Aakash Chopra
Cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra pinpointed that just one bad session of the final day of the ‘Ultimate Test’ led India to lose everything they did in the last two years to reach the finals.
“They might have started the final day with the thought of forcing a result, but the twin wickets of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara put them on the back foot in the first hour.
“This Indian team has stayed at the top of the Test rankings for five straight years, but unfortunately history will remember the one hour that India didn’t plan.
“The legacy of teams and captains is defined by the trophies they win; it doesn’t matter how many battles you win if you fail to win the war,” Aakash Chopra wrote for ESPNCricinfo.
New Zealand won the inaugural ICC World Test Championship
The thrilling contest between the top two Test sides went on the last day of the match with the possibility of all three outcomes. There was a chance India could have won the match and on the other hand, New Zealand was also in the same boat as India, However, the favorite result was Draw.
On Day 6 Kiwi bowlers helped the team to shift the momentum towards them, As they were able to reduce India by 72/4 because of the amazing spell by Kyle Jamieson. He once again was able to dismiss Virat Kohli also picked the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara.
Kane Williamson has a new best friend 🥰
Take a behind the scenes look as the @BLACKCAPS skipper smiles for the cameras with the #WTC21 Final mace 📸 pic.twitter.com/SCvEdkfghl
— ICC (@ICC) June 25, 2021
India was bundled down for just 170 runs in their second innings of the match and the batters failed to contribute good runs at Ahead Bowl Southampton. New Zealand got the target of just 139 which was very small considering their massive batting line-up. Ross Taylor and captain Kane Williamson comfortably led the team towards their first ICC trophy in two decades.