ICC World Test Championship – ‘The Game’ has just begun

A dream come true for a real cricket supporter and a lot on plate for a next generation cricketer, ICC has now everything to offer and achieve in terms of ‘Cricket’. The traditional format has seen uncounted mesmerizing memories and unbelievable records till time. With start of ‘The Ashes’, no other series could have been a better stage for test championship to announce its arrival.

The Ashes (Australia playing in England):

Post dramatic finish of ICC CWC 2019 England had everything to cherish for, but they never knew that defending champions of CWC 2015 are going to have different plans for ‘The Ashes’.  With Smith and Warner back in the squad after completing the period of suspension, Australia really looks a complete and perfect team. Steve Smith with 2 successive centuries in a single test match against arch-rivals on Edgbaston showed that he still starve for more runs. The promising English batsmen on the other hand failed to make any impact and sustained many blows while facing Australian bowling attack. Nathan Lyon’s figures (43.5-8-112-3 & 20-5-49-6) indicate that spin is still a perfect weapon against England. Though Australia defeated England with a huge margin of 251 runs in first test match, hope to see Englishmen make a comeback in the ongoing series.

New Zealand Tour of Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka’s poor form and Kiwi’s fight for winning the final in ICC CWC 2019, we could see some moderate battle between these two during New Zealand’s tour of Sri Lanka. Kiwi’s struggle of winning in Asia subcontinent can be a plus for Lankans. Hope to see Sri Lanka find their best test players and keep themselves alive for test championship battle.

India tour of West Indies:

The disappointing semi-final loss in CWC 2019 could be the reason for every Indian cricket supporter to stay away from any international cricket match for now. Even Team India playing against West Indies on Caribbean pitches, has not turned Indian supporters to watch live telecast of matches (time distance could be another reason for that). As test matches are concerned, presence of pinch hitters in West Indies team now needs to play steadily. Anyway team India is clear favorites in this series.

The unpredictable Ashes series, Sri Lanka’s take on Kiwis and India dominating against Windies seems ok for now.

What’s for Team India?

Though Ravi Shastri has been reappointed as a head coach, for India there are many challenges awaiting. With reference to India’s poor form during tours outside Indian subcontinent, it might become tough series after series. Honestly, team India will need to stick and play according to plans or they might struggle a lot to keep themselves alive for the championship.