Made no sense to play WTC without an India-Pakistan series-Ramiz Raja

An India - Pakistan Test series is a delight for any adherent cricket fan. Unfortunately, the two nations don’t play bilateral cricket anymore. The last time these two teams met in a bilateral series was way back in 2012-13 when Pakistan toured India for a short 3 match ODI series.

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The inaugural edition of the World Test Championship will see India taking on New Zealand in the summit clash. The format of the tournament was such that every participating team needed to play three home and as many away series, and the top two teams with the most number of points will play the final.

However, the tournament was severely affected by the pandemic and several series were postponed or abandoned. The ICC then decided to make a change in the points system and revealed that the teams with the highest percentage of points will qualify for the final. Expressing his dissatisfaction over the same, former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raza has called for modifications in the next edition of the championship. He also said that it made no sense that India and Pakistan didn’t play each other in the tournament.

“The current format was lopsided and prolonged and it made no sense not having India and Pakistan series. Teams didn’t play the same number of matches and even the points system was weird. There should have been a 3-month window and everyone should have played against each other,” said Raja on his Youtube channel.

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Further, Ramiz Raja wants ICC to make the World Test Championship a standout event. He suggested that no cricket should be played at that time as it will help in promoting Test cricket and will also attract more sponsors.

“Next time when the WTC is held, no cricket should be held at that time, if you want to promote Test cricket and infuse life into it and also attract sponsors to this format. Sponsorship will only come when you will not give sponsors any other option to park their money.”

The final of the World Test Championship will be played in June in Southampton.