WI v IND | World Test Championship brings a lot of purpose to each Test, says Virat Kohli

The Test Championship kicked-off in grand style, reigniting the longest-standing rivalry, with Australia winning the first Test by a whopping 251-run margin. Meanwhile, the island nation of Sri Lanka, the hosts chased down a record 268 in the fourth innings to take an unassailable lead against the Kiwis. India's campaign will begin on Thursday when they face hosts West Indies in the first Test in Antigua.

"The games are going to be much more competitive and it brings a lot of purpose to the Test matches you play. It's the right move and at the absolute right time. People have been talking about Test cricket not being relevant, or dying. For me, the competition has gone up two-fold in the last couple of years. It's up to the players to take the challenge and go for victories. That's going to be the essence of this Test championship as well. There will hardly be any boring draws, there will be exciting draws because everyone will want those extra points,” Kohli said at the WIPA awards last night, reported Cricbuzz.

When speaking about the batting and bowling departments of the game, Kohli wasn’t too impressed with how his batsmen have fared as a unit, in recent times. He admits – much like his Windies counterpart Jason Holder – that bowling attacks all over the world have taken considerable strides forward.

"Well, if I have to be brutally honest, I don't think us batsmen have lived up to the standard. We have travelled a lot over the past year and a half and it's been challenging. We lost in England but won in Australia because the batsmen pulled up. As much as individuals stand out, I think it's about batting well as a team and every team wants to put up a strong total on the board for the bowlers to come in and capitalise," he said.

"The bowlers have really come into their own. And as Jason mentioned their bowling attack is as lethal as anyone's, in home conditions. So we know we're up against a big challenge here in red-ball cricket. I think batsmanship is always going to be hard at Test level but even harder now in the Test championship because every decision is going to count in the larger scheme of things," Kohli added.