The World Test Championship saw the two best teams in India and Australia compete for the mace. Eventually, it was New Zealand who won the mace after beating India in the final. The WTC saw some of the biggest cricket stars make their presence felt. However, there were some stars who just could not match up. Here are the biggest flops of the World Test Championship.
Cheteshwar Pujara
A no.3 batsman has to endure a lot of expectations, both personally and professionally. Cheteshwar Pujara of India just could not live up to both. He has had an average WTC, failing to hit a single ton during the championship, although he played a few important fifties to thwart the opposition team from making inroads into the middle-order.
But a ton-less Championship is not up to Pujara’s high standards. He is now even at the risk of being dropped for the first Test against England. For the record, Pujara scored 841 runs @ 28.03 with 9 fifties in 18 matches in WTC.
Ross Taylor
Although New Zealand won the WTC final, it did gloss Ross Taylor’s poor form with the bat. However, Taylor did come good in the final, striking a useful 47* in the second innings. But the Kiwi batsman has had a poor outing in WTC, managing just 3 scores of fifty, aggregating 527 runs @ 32.93 in 12 matches.
Tim Paine
The Australian Test skipper lost the Test series against India at home despite a great start in Adelaide where they had bowled out Virat Kohli and his men for just 36. Australia then just could not blow away India and lost the series 1-2. Paine’s captaincy was questioned throughout as well as his ill-timed banter with R Ashwin in the drawn Sydney Test.
Except in the first Test at Adelaide, Paine’s batting failed to fire, while his captaincy skills were criticized. However, he did manage to draw the Ashes series to retain the urn. For the record, Paine played 14 Tests during the WTC, scoring 550 runs @28.94 with 4 fifties.
Sam Curran
The England all-rounder played 9 Tests during the WTC, managing just 20 wickets @ 32.60 although he opened the bowling attack. England’s rotation policy saw it didn’t have a settled opening new-ball pairing, and it didn’t help Curran either. His batting form also deserted him, and soon, Curran found himself out of reckoning in Test XI.
Cover photo: Tim Paine - courtesy: ICC
