The ICC Champions Trophy was always under the scanner ever since its inception. People questioned the format of the tournament as to why there was a need for another multi-nation ODI tournament when the ICC World Cup was already present.
There was another argument to bring in the World Test Championship in place of the Champions Trophy. There have been several discussions over bringing in the tournament for the longest format of the game but somehow ICC have not been able to introduce that.
The Test Championship was initially planned for 2017 which was ultimately replaced by the Champions Trophy. The tournament this year has given all the more reasons to continue with it.
Let’s take a look at why the Champions Trophy should exist instead of the Test Championship
#1 Revival of ODI cricket
Since the advent of T20 cricket, the fans have been inclined towards the shortest format of the game. There has been a notable decline in the viewership of ODI cricket in the past few years. The bilateral ODI series have especially taken a hit.
But the Champions Trophy this year brought the top nations together and so the crowd as well returned. There was a huge amount of interest shown by the fans in England and the stands in the ground were full almost every time. The final being between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan only added a cherry on top.
#2 Short tournament
The current Champions Trophy lasted for only 18 days and a total of 15 matches were played. There is no harm for the teams to get together for such a short duration and compete at the highest level and get a chance to prove their might.
The teams that compete in the final play only 5 matches in the tournament and the winner becomes the champion of champions unlike in the World Cup which goes on for more than a month where plenty of matches are played to decide the winner.
#3 Test championship will go on forever
A Test match alone takes 5 days to complete and if multiple nations are involved in fighting for a title, just imagine how much time it is going to consume. Test matches are played at home and away venues and the neutral venues are bound to favour one side more than the other.
Additionally, if there are interruptions due to rain, then no one knows what would happen. The biggest challenge in the Test Championship is the interest of the crowd. In Test cricket these days, there is hardly 10 percent of the seats occupied in a stadium and so, to imagine a tournament with that is very difficult.
#4 A reality check for the top sides
The Champions Trophy being a tournament involving only the top 8 ranked sides in the world presents a reality check for the top sides. Who would have thought that the World Champions Australia would fail to make it to the second round of the tournament?
The No.1 ranked side in the world South Africa also lost 2 matches out of 3 and were knocked out in the first round itself. The World Cup is organised after a gap of 4 years and so, it’s nice to have a tournament like Champions Trophy that gives an opportunity for the teams to test themselves out amongst the best sides in the world.
#5 A motivation for the associates
The T20 World Champions West Indies failed to make it to the tournament and Bangladesh qualified being ranked number 7 in the world. They did full justice to their presence by reaching the semi-finals from the group that included Australia, New Zealand and England, a group that was deemed too good for the Asian side to compete in.
Bangladesh proved that they are no longer the minnows and their campaign would certainly inspire the associate nations to achieve much more. There are teams like Afghanistan who are doing consistently well in ODI cricket and there will be an added motivation for them to stand amongst the top 8 sides in the world to participate in the Champions Trophy.
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