Thread by @fwildecricket

The World Test Championship Final between India v New Zealand starting on Friday is arguably the single most important Test match ever played. On a very basic level a Test has never had a world title riding on it but the match carries broader significance as well. #INDvNZ

The WTC is imperfect but it has all been building to this moment, this match. If it’s a good & memorable one it should help lend significance & context to the next WTC cycle which could help reinvigorate the format, the opposite might be true if it’s a dud. #INDvNZ

In a way this shows how the way we watch sport is weird—no single match should carry so much broader significance—but context is so important & this is essentially the first attempt at a World Cup of Test cricket—150 years after the first Test match. That’s also weird. #INDvNZ

The rise of short form cricket in the last decade means cricket is at an inflexion point: the game is—perhaps irrevocably—shifting towards more short-form, domestic competition, but the WTC has been an attempt to arrest that & the pandemic has intensified these tensions. #INDvNZ

The IPL is set to expand, England are about to launch a new short-form comp, T10 is being considered as an Olympic sport. Test cricket may be irreconcilable with the modern world but context is everything & the WTC, despite its challenges, is the best cricket has managed. #INDvNZ

The importance of India’s presence in the final cannot be overstated. Such is India’s economic clout, a final without them would arguably have already seen the WTC fall at the first hurdle, but they have made it & with them they bring one billion eyeballs. #INDvNZ

There will be times during slow passages of play & during rain delays in front of a largely empty stadium, that this match may not feel significant, but back in India it matters & ultimately because of the economics of the sport that is more important than anything else. #INDvNZ

The relevance of New Zealand in this match should not be overlooked though. If Test cricket is to find a way to survive then it needs poorer, smaller teams to compete to provide enough variation in competition. NZ are the perfect template for WI, SL & co in how to do so. #INDvNZ

And so there we have it, New Zealand v India, $38 million turnover v $285 million turnover, 5 million population v 1 billion population, David v Goliath - arguably the single most important Test match ever played. #INDvNZ