The format of the World Test Championship has come under a lot of criticism as it is being increasingly felt that one match isn’t enough to judge a team’s potential in the final.

India head coach Ravi Shastri has already suggested that a best-of-three finals was needed and Sachin Tendulkar told The Telegraph recently that there “should have been a series called WTC final series” comprising at least three Tests.

The batting legend also said that if one match is to be considered as the final, then one particular Test from every series should also have been taken into account while calculating the WTC points.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar feels the ICC should find a way to decide a winner in case the rain-hit WTC final in Southampton ends in a draw.

“There must be a formula to pick a winner in case of a drawn WTC final. ICC’s cricket committee should think and then take a decision,” Gavaskar told Aaj Tak. “It seems that the World Test Championship final will end up as a draw and the trophy will be shared.”

This, however, will not be the first time that teams will be sharing the trophy in an ICC tournament. India and Sri Lanka had shared the 50-over Champions Trophy 2002 after rain ruined the final for two days.

The issue could come up at the ICC cricket committee meeting during its annual general meeting on July 18 but there’s unlikely to be any change in format for the 2023 edition. That is mainly because of time constraints and a packed Future Tours Programme.

Things, however, could change when the next edition comes up in 2025. One of the options that is being contemplated is having the final in a neutral venue like Dubai in December when the weather is pleasant. That will keep the weather factor out of the equation.

Two other options are also being considered to determine the winner in case of a draw — the team with maximum points in the WTC or the team with maximum series wins would be declared winner.

All such measures are still being thought of and whatever decision the cricket committee takes will have to be passed by the board of directors.

Gavaskar cited the examples of other sports such as football and tennis. “In football, they have a penalty shootout or they have some other method to decide a winner. In tennis, there are five sets and there is a tie-breaker,” he said.

The ICC puts it down to sheer bad luck that led to two full days being washed out in Southampton.

This is just the inaugural edition and any change in format will be done as and when necessary.

Virat Kohli had put it down bluntly when he said that he wouldn’t be reading much into the outcome of the WTC final.

“For us, as a team, we have been on a quest for excellence for a while now and we are going to continue to be on that path regardless of what happens in this game. We totally understand who we are as a team and the kind of cricket we have played so we have no doubts whatsoever about our ability,” Kohli had said.