World Test Championship final: Legendary West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop said nothing can substitute a major tournament trophy and that Virat Kohli will be keen to have the WTC title in his decorated cabinet after having changed the way India played Test cricket in the recent past.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Ian Bishop said Virat Kohli will be keen on getting his hands on the WTC trophy
• Bishop said India will play for the millions who suffered due to Covid-19 crisis
• India take on New Zealand in the WTC final from June 18 in Southampton

Legendary West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop has said that Virat Kohli will be keen on claiming the World Test Championship (WTC) honour and it will be a huge if he manages to do so after having added a new dimension to the way India play Test cricket.

Ian Bishop, speaking to the press in a virtual conference organised by Star Sports, said the WTC final will be a huge moment for Virat Kohli, who has been an influential figure in terms of upholding the importance of the longest format of the game over the years.

Virat Kohli will be eyeing his first major ICC trophy at the senior level after having missed out at the 2019 World Cup and the 2017 Champions Trophy. The India skipper had won the U-19 World Cup as captain in 2008 but the ICC honour at the senior level has been eluding the captain in him.

Kohli will lead India in the final of the WTC against Kane Williamson’s New Zealand. The much-anticipated one-off Test match will get underway from June 18 in Southampton.

“It will be huge for Virat. He has led from the front, which is one of the important things for a good captain. He is a batsman who is at the top of the game along with Kane, his opposite number and one or two other guys who are around the cricketing circle and it’s a small group. Virat has got a lot to play for,” Ian Bishop said.

“I think Virat would badly want it because for all the good work that he has done. The belief in his fast bowlers, changing the dynamics and the positivity, taking it to another level. To have that trophy in that cabinet for himself, for his team and his country, you can’t substitute that,” he added.

‘It’s now India will play for the country, for the ones who were suffering’

Meanwhile, Bishop also said India will be looking to play and win the iCC WTC final and pay tribute to the millions who suffered back home due to the Covid-19 crisis. India was badly hit by the 2nd wave of infections with many losing lives and livelihoods over the last few months.

‘”We got to remember what India is going through beyond the boundary with the pandemic, the thing that they have gone through in the last couple of months. When you talk of playing for a country, if ever there was particular meaning to it, it’s now for India to play for the thousands back at home who have been suffering,” he added.

‘WTC Final triumph can inspire much like 1983 and 2007 victories’

Meanwhile, legendary India batsman VVS Laxman said he hopes a victory in the WTC final will inspire millions of youngsters to take up Test cricket much like how Kapil Dev’s 1983 team and MS Dhoni’s 2007 team did with their respective World Cup triumphs.

“Yeah, it definitely will be. I still remember when Kapil Paji lifted the World Cup in 1983, I still remember a lot of youngsters in our country wanted to take cricket as a profession. It was an amateur profession at that time. When MS lifted the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, a lot of youngsters embraced the T20 format.

“And now the T20 format is preferred by a lot of youngsters. Now both Virat and Kane, modern-day greats and inspirational figures, have upheld the Test format. If both of them compete well, and one of them will emerge winners, a lot of youngsters will want to wear white clothes, a lot of youngsters will want to play red-ball cricket,” he added.