"Nobody wants to play Bangladesh for more than 2 matches" - Aakash Chopra on the new WTC cycle's schedule

Former India player Aakash Chopra has highlighted the disparity in the number of matches each team will play in the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. He pointed out no team will play more than two Tests in a series against Bangladesh, as has been the case since the start of the WTC cycles.

South Africa recently beat Australia by five wickets in the 2025 WTC final at Lord's to become the third team to win the title in as many editions. The new WTC cycle has started with Bangladesh's away two-match series against Sri Lanka.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener noted that while South Africa are playing only 14 Tests in the new WTC cycle despite being reigning champions, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are playing only two games in each of their respective six series.

"The new cycle has started, and you believe everyone will want to play you if you are the champions, that they will want to play four or five-match series against you because you are the world champions. Wrong, that's not the case. Neither did it happen with New Zealand nor is it happening with South Africa," Chopra said (1:25).

"Australia will play 22 matches, England will play 21 matches, we will play 18, then there is 16 for New Zealand, and 14 for South Africa and the West Indies. Don't ask about Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It's been eight years of the WTC cycles, including this one, and Bangladesh have never played a three-match series. Nobody wants to play Bangladesh for more than two matches," he added.

Aakash Chopra noted that Sri Lanka were punching above their weight in the last WTC cycle, before eventually falling by the wayside. He pointed out that the Lankan Lions will also play 12 matches only, which has been termed wrong by the retiring Angelo Mathews as well.

---

"The qualification becomes easy" - Aakash Chopra on the advantage of a 2-Test series

South Africa played only 12 Tests to qualify for the 2025 WTC final. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that playing shorter series makes the WTC final qualification path easier.

"We are not rewarding. We are saying that teams can decide among themselves how many games they want to play against each other. The advantage of a two-match series is that you get full points quickly. So the qualification becomes easy. If you win two matches in the England series, you will get only 40 percent points," he said (3:00).

However, the cricketer-turned-commentator noted that Australia, India and England play longer series among them for commercial reasons.

"Qualification will be difficult for whoever is playing five or four-match series. However, the truth is that the cricket economy runs because of Australia, India and England. So these three teams have arranged five-match series between them," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra reckoned that the current WTC structure demands a two-tier system. He pointed out that Test-playing nations like Afghanistan and Ireland can also be included in the second tier, with a provision of promotion and relegation between the two tiers.