Test championship will add value to longer-format cricket- Willamson
Collected
|| CF Correspondent ||
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson believes that the World Test Championships will add more value to the five-day format of the game.
"It's a welcome addition to the Test format, bringing that context into every Test match that you play," Williamson told reporters on Tuesday ahead of first Test against hosts Sri Lanka at Galle, which will also be New Zealand's first ever match under the aegis of the two-year cycle of the championship, with the final scheduled to be held in June, 2021.
"Every time you play any team it's very, competitive, but now there's that added carrot where in two years time everyone is vying for an opportunity to play in a Test Championship final, which will be a really exciting thing to be a part of," he added.
New Zealand will be back into the international fold, exactly a month after the World Cup final heartbreak and the 29-year old captain felt that the upcoming Championships was another opportunity to win a trophy.
New Zealand, presently ranked second in the ICC Test rankings table, can leapfrog India if they can complete a 2-0 series win and if India fail to beat West Indies by an identical margin in their upcoming Test series.
"If that happens, that would be great. The thing with rankings is that they fluctuate throughout a season, and are purely a reaction to the cricket that you're playing," said Williamson
"For us, we're just focused on cricket because that gives us the best chance of success. We're looking forward to the challenge here against Sri Lanka," he said adding that they are concerned regarding the bad weather.
"In the 10 or 12 days that we've been here, about eight of them have been rained out. It's just one of those things that you try and prepare mentally as best as you can," he concluded despite rain forced both teams to prepare in indoor on the pre-match day.
