WTC Final: Aakash Chopra analyses India's loss, says 'history will remember the one hour'

Commentator-cum-cricket pundit Aakash Chopra has mentioned that the legacy of the captains, as well as their teams, is defined by the championships that they win after Team India's eight-wicket loss to New Zealand in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Ageas Rose Bowl in Southampton on Wednesday.

Giving further clarification on the same, Aakash Chopra said that even though Team India were the top-ranked Test side for half a decade, they will be remembered for that one bad hour during the morning session of the final day's play.

WTC Final: Aakash Chopra opines what impact will this loss have on Team India

“The legacy of teams and captains is defined by the trophies they win; it doesn’t matter how many battles you win if you fail to win the war. This Indian team has stayed at the top of the Test rankings for five straight years, but unfortunately, history will remember the one hour that India didn’t plan,” wrote Aakash Chopra in his column for ESPNCricinfo.

“They might have started the final day with the thought of forcing a result, but the twin wickets of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara put them on the back foot in the first hour,” the cricketer-turned-commentator/analyst added.

WTC final 2021

Kyle Jamieson was adjudged the player of the match for his amazing performance with the ball as he picked a total of seven wickets in the match, including a five-wicket haul. In fact, it was the tall pacer who accounted for skipper Virat Kohli for just 13 when he decided to defend a delivery that was bowled outside off-stump, but it took the outside edge of his bat and went straight into the gloves of BJ Watling who made no mistake behind the stumps.

Jamieson had also outclassed his RCB skipper in the first innings as well by trapping the latter plumb in front of the wicket at his overnight score of 44. 

Talking about the match summary, India had scored 217 runs in the first innings, and in reply, the Kiwis posted 249 runs on the board. In the third innings, India were bowled out for mere 170 runs, leaving 139 runs for the Kiwis as the target to win the match. Kane Williamson remained key for New Zealand in both his innings as he scored 49 and 52 unbeaten runs respectively to help the Kiwis win the match and become the first-ever world Test champions in 144 years of Test cricket. New Zealand won the match by 8 wickets with 43 balls left. Ross Taylor, who forged an important partnership with skipper Kane Williamson, hit the winning runs in the end to finish at 47 not-out.