R Ashwin slams Virat Kohli's critics after his proposal of three Test matches for WTC final

Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has slammed the critics of Virat Kohli after the skipper received backlash for his suggestion of three-match series to decide the World Test Champion. After the loss to New Zealand in the inaugural WTC final, Kohli had suggested that the final has to be a test of character over three games and has to be a hard grind.

After the game, Kohli had said, "I am not in absolute agreement of deciding the best Test side in the world over the course of one game. If it is a Test series, it has to be a test of character over three Tests - which team has the ability to come back in the series or totally blow away the other team. It can't just be pressure applied over two days of good cricket and then you suddenly you are not a good Test side anymore. I don't believe in it.

"I think it has to be a hard grind and something that definitely needs to be worked on in the future to really -- at the end of three matches, there's effort, there's ups and downs, there are situations changing throughout the course of the series...

'...A chance to rectify the things that you've done wrong in the first game and then really see who's the better side over the course of a three-match series or something will be a good measure of how things really are," he further added.

Defending his skipper, Ashwin speaking about the hullabaloo that followed after his comments on his YouTube channel said, "I happened to hear people saying that Virat Kohli asked for three Tests to be played for the WTC Final but it is ridiculous. After the match got over, Michael Atherton had asked what could be done differently in the WTC. Virat replied in a particular context that if three matches are played, then adaptability and come back for a team are possible. Kohli did not demand anything."

However, Ashwin was hopeful that India can win an ICC tournament soon for the fans, who have waited for a long time since the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. “When we lose a final, fans would be disappointed. Perhaps, billion Indians were looking forward to good news after lockdown and stuff. But it didn’t happen. Fingers crossed. Just hoping we win some other ICC tournament,” he concluded.