'WTC is an ICC event. Can you imagine ICC tournament without India vs Pakistan?': Aakash Chopra's ferocious rant

Team India faced another disappointing loss in the final of the World Test Championship last week – this time, against Australia. Two years after conceding defeat to New Zealand at the same stage, India failed to cross the finishing line as Pat Cummins' men registered a mammoth 209-run win at The Oval, extending India's wait for an ICC title. In 2021, India lost under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, but Rohit Sharma – successor to Kohli – has also failed to revive the Indian fortunes in ICC tournaments so far.

Following the loss, Rohit also voiced his reservations on the final format in the WTC; he believes the titular clash should be a three-Test affair. While some fans and former cricketers resonated with Rohit's suggestion, Cummins was unequivocally against it.

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“I think it's fine. No qualms. I think ideally you'd have 50-match series but the Olympics have come down to one race to win a gold medal. AFL, NRL seasons have finals. That's sport,” Cummins had said.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra, however, has pointed out another major lacking at the WTC as the International Cricket Council announced the fixtures for the third cycle of the tournament, which begins with the Ashes later this week. While Aakash sided with Rohit and urged for a three-Test final series, the former opener also believed that there should be matches between India and Pakistan as the WTC is an ICC tournament.

“You don't play against all teams. But this is WTC, it's an ICC event. It has been 4 years now... can you imagine an ICC event without India vs Pakistan? This can never happen. It's always at the start of the tournament so it gets off to a great start commercially. It gets the highest rating and people make money,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“So, is WTC not an ICC event? It's an ICC mace, they host the final. So, all the matches that take place in the cycle should be in the purview of ICC. It will be 6 years, and you didn't have a single India-Pakistan series. This is also an ICC event. If it's not, make it clear. Call it bilateral cricket and accept that you have made WTC just to glamorize Tests,” he further said.

Both countries don't play each other in bilateral series due to political tensions between the nations; the two, however, have met in the ICC tournaments with their last meeting being at the T20 World Cup in 2022, where India had defeated Pakistan by four wickets.