WTC Final: "Don't think it should be hyped" - Gautam Gambhir says WTC not as important as World Cup
Gautam Gambhir feels that the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC), albeit exciting, isn't as important as the 50-over World Cup. The former India captain remarked on Thursday that the WTC is being 'hyped' and its comparison with the World Cup is an 'exaggeration'.
Many red-ball specialists, including Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma, have been vocal about how the WTC final is like a World Cup for them. But Gautam Gambhir claimed that players who play all formats might not think on similar lines because a WTC final will be played every second year.
Gautam Gambhir told AajTak:
"It's the inaugural World Test Championship, you'll surely want to win it, both teams will want to win it but to compare it with the World Cup is a bit exaggerated.
"Perhaps it's more exaggerated for those players who only play red-ball cricket. Those who play all formats might not consider it that important because they know it'll come again soon.
"So, if it's coming every other year, I don't think it should be hyped or inflated too much."
The ICC recently announced its schedule for the 2024-2031 cycle, which will see as many as four WTC finals played biennially from 2025.
World Cup is considered important because a lot of things change in four years: Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir added that the World Cup, played every four years, attains its importance because every team goes through a lot of changes between two tournaments. He also pointed to the emotional connection that the World Cup brings with it, purely because of the four-year-long gap.
"Whichever team plays well will surely win. But you can't compare the World Test Championship to the World Cup because the latter comes every four years whereas the World Test Championship will be played every other year.
"We consider the World Cup that important because a lot of things change in four years. Those who played [in one] World Cup, can they maintain themselves at that level of performance after four years?
"Will they play or not, you never know, so it attains that importance. You must have seen that when teams are knocked out of a World Cup, a lot of people get very emotional," concluded Gambhir.
The WTC final will commence at 3:00 pm IST on Friday, June 18.