Gave us more determination and clarity: Virat Kohli on change of WTC points system

D-Day has arrived, and the stage is set for the first-ever World Test Championship final. The crucial match between India and New Zealand will take place at Southampton's Ageas Bowl Stadium.

During the pre-match virtual press conference, India captain Virat Kohli spoke about how the new points system brought in a significant change within the team in terms of bringing out more competitiveness in them.

"...that gave us more determination and more clarity as to where we want to go and what we want to achieve, so looking back now, probably was a good thing that happened," Virat Kohli was quoted as saying during the pre-match virtual press conference.

The World Test Championship cycle began in 2019, with the qualification criterion for the final being to accumulate the maximum number of points possible. The unforeseeable circumstances leading up to the CoVID-19 pandemic, on the other hand, forced a change. When determining the finalists, the new system took the win percentage into account.

"There was no room for complacency, if we had qualified earlier maybe we would have relaxed a little-bit. But the situation allowed us to be more hungry and be more determined and know exactly what was going on at that moment and use that as a fueling bracket and motivation to keep moving forward regardless of whatever was going on outside."

Irrespective of the result, the game will be the winner, says Captain Kohli

"One game over five days. It's not going to reflect anything and those who understand the game know and also what has gone over the period of last four to five years," Kohli told reporters in the pre-match press conference.

"If we win, cricket will not stop and if we lose also, cricket won't stop. We are playing in quest of excellence and understand who we are as a team," he added.

Team India's Playing XI

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.