“Suddenly you are not a good Test side” - When Virat Kohli blocked criticism despite losing IND vs NZ 2021 WTC final

Former Team India captain Virat Kohli dismissed criticism of his side after losing the 2021 World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand. Under Kohli, India dominated Test cricket for the second half of the 2010s and finished at the top of the 2019-21 WTC standings.

However, they suffered an eight-wicket loss to the Black Caps in the summit clash, failing to lift the trophy in the tournament's inaugural edition. Kohli endured a poor outing himself, scoring only 57 runs across the two innings.

Following the loss, he spoke against the WTC final being a one-off affair, saying (via ESPN Cricinfo):

"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."

He added:

"It has to be a hard grind and something that definitely needs to be worked around in the future. At the end of three matches, where there's effort, there's ups and downs, there's situations changing during the course of the series, a chance to rectify the things you have done in the first game, and then really see who is the better side over the course of a three-match series or something, will be a good measure of how things really are."

Unfortunately for Team India, their WTC woes continued in the 2021-23 cycle. The side qualified for the final again, only to suffer a heavy 209-run defeat to Australia.

Kohli's WTC final numbers do not make for pretty reading, with an average of only 30 across four innings.

Team India failed to make it a hat-trick of finals in WTC 2023-25

Team India continued their consistent play in Tests for most of the 2023-25 WTC cycle and appeared to be on course for a hat-trick of final qualification. However, they lost six of their final seven Tests in the cycle to New Zealand at home and Australia in Australia, falling out of the top two.

It means the defending champions, Australia and Tema Bavuma's South Africa, will face off in the 2025 WTC final at Lord's, starting today (June 11). An Aussie will make it a hat-trick of WTC titles for the Trans-Tasmanian sides, Australia and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, a Proteas win will see them lift an ICC trophy for the first time since the 1998 Champions Trophy.