Sourav Ganguly congratulates individual performers throughout the WTC cycle

India may have missed the golden opportunity to be crowned the inaugural winners of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against New Zealand, but they showed enough heart and character during the two years of the WTC cycle to be among the top two teams. Yet again India reached the final of an ICC event and proved their consistency by beating the top teams.  Along the two years period, India managed to win two overseas series in West Indies and Australia.

Although few experts pointed fingers at India for not crossing the final hurdle, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was extremely happy with the team’s performances and lavished praise on a few of the team’s crucial contributors along the way during the WTC cycle.

India’s premier off-spinner Ravi Ashwin finished as the leading wicket-taker of WTC with 71 scalps, while vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane finished as India’s leading run-getter with 1095 runs. Ganguly lauded the duo’s efforts and the team’s match-winning abilities under crunch situations.

“Everyone has contributed to this WTC journey. Ajinkya Rahane has been the highest scorer for India in the WTC. Don’t forget Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma. For Ishant, a fast bowler, to have played 100 Tests, is not a mean achievement. After Kapil Dev, he is the only Indian pace bowler to have done so. There have been worthy contributions from Rohit Sharma, Rahane, and skipper Virat Kohli. Ravichandran Ashwin has performed with the ball right through,” Ganguly told The Week Magazine in an interview.

Sourav Ganguly hints at the possible tweaks in the second WTC cycle

The former left-hand batter also felt WTC will return next year as the first edition was a huge success. Although the COVID-19 situation played a big part in 2020, the teams somehow managed to squeeze in few Tests. During the next WTC cycle, Ganguly hinted at the possible tweaks albeit the pandemic situation.

“Both India and New Zealand have played well, and that is why they are in the final. As for the qualification criteria, it was based on the percentage of wins. Hopefully, in the next WTC cycle, there will be some tweaks. Last year, due to Covid-19, lots of matches and series were canceled. Hopefully, the next cycle will take all this into account,” Ganguly added.