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Sunil Gavaskar criticised India's current captain Rohit Sharma for proposing a best-of-three series for the ICC World Test Championship and questioned whether IPL players would make an identical demand. In the WTC 2023 final, India suffered a crushing 209-run defeat against Australia, marking their second straight loss in the WTC Final after falling to New Zealand in 2021.
India's captain Rohit Sharma recommended a best-of-three finals format moving forward in the wake of the sad outcome. He repeated what former India coach Ravi Shastri and former captain Virat Kohli had remarked following their team's defeat in the 2021 World Test Championship final.
In the post-match press conference, Rohit said, "I would love that. But is there a time? That's the big question. But honestly, in a big event like this, you need to have fair opportunities for both the teams. You know, a three-match series would be nice, but it's about finding that window where it can fit in.
"In an event like this, you work hard for two years and then you have only one shot at it. So, it's not really - you cannot get into that momentum that you need in Test cricket, you know."
Sunil Gavaskar, who advised him to prepare for the final as he does for the IPL, didn't take kindly to the three-match series suggestion. During an interaction with India Today, the Indian legend said, "No. This has been decided for a long time, you know even before you enter that first match of the cycle that the final is going to be just one-off. So, you have to be prepared mentally. Just like you prepare for the IPL, you don’t say best of three.
"Everybody can have a bad day or a couple of days, but before the first ball of the cycle, you know what it is. So, you can’t be asking for a best of three. Tomorrow, you may say best of five."
This was India’s eighth straight defeat in ICC tournaments since the glorious win in the Champions Trophy 2013 held in England. India will be desperate to break this sad streak and get their hands on an ICC Trophy. The next major tournament is the ICC Cricket World Cup which will be held in October at home and will be a perfect opportunity to get the silverware.