I would've asked for double the points for an away Test win, says Virat Kohli on ICC Test Championship

The inaugural ICC Test Championship got underway with the Ashes series this year. Team India is currently at the top of the table with three wins in as many matches and are looking the favourites to hold on to the numero uno position in the near future as well. A total of 120 points have been allotted for every series in the championship and the points are distributed according to the length of the series.

Though ICC has tried its best to make things interesting, many have criticised the points format already. The South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis too, the other day, termed the points system a bit complicated and now his counterpart Virat Kohli has opened up on the matter. For the Indian skipper, the teams should be rewarded with more points for an away Test win to make things more interesting as it is a special achievement.

Kohli was in favour of doubling the points for the team winning an away Test. Australia, in the recent Ashes series, played really well to win two matches. But with the series ending in a draw, they had to stay content with only 56 points despite putting up their best performance. “If you’d have asked me to make the points table, I’d have asked for double the points for an away test win,” Kohli was quoted as saying by Times Now ahead of the Pune Test.

Earlier Du Plessis had also cleared his reservations about the points distribution stating that no system will be perfect. “It is complicated. Obviously the shorter the Test series the more points you get. In two Tests you get 120 points and in the five-match series, you have to win 5-0 to get 120 points which is a bit harder. I have noticed that in this thing you always find holes and flaws in the systems, it is never gonna be a perfect system,” he had said.

Kohli hints at playing an unchanged side

As far as the upcoming second Test between India and South Africa is concerned, Virat Kohli clearly hinted at playing an unchanged side. Though he admitted that there is extra grass on the surface which might tempt the teams to play an extra seamer. Having said that, India are likely to go in with Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami as their only pacers for the Test.

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