NEW DELHI: Former India head coach Rahul Dravid believes the advent of the World Test Championship has significantly raised the emphasis on result-oriented wickets, while also increasing the pressure on home teams to win every match.
India are currently struggling in the ongoing WTC cycle and find themselves placed sixth in the standings, leaving them in need of a strong turnaround to remain in contention for a spot in the 2027 final.
Dravid attributed some of India's recent batting difficulties to a global shift towards more result-driven pitches, noting that surfaces offering greater assistance to bowlers are no longer limited to India but are being seen across the world.
‘He showed the way’: Rahul Dravid reveals what made Rohit Sharma's leadership different
"The importance of getting result-oriented wickets has become much more. In the old days, you just had to win a series against the team; you were not looking to win every Test match. Today the pressure on home teams to win all the games has increased because of the World Test Championship. That's why I think you are seeing slightly more wickets, which are favouring the bowlers too much. And not only in India, but everywhere," Dravid said at the launch of the book The Rise of the Hitman: The Rohit Sharma Story in Bengaluru.
Dravid added that during his tenure as India's head coach, he often felt the weight of World Test Championship points, saying the importance of results tends to intensify in such situations, particularly in home matches.
"I have been only a coach when the World Test Championship is on, and I have certainly seen that the pressure of those points has at times made you ask for result-oriented wickets. No one wants to go to extremes, but certainly results are important, especially in your home games," he added.
India's WTC 2025–27 campaign has produced contrasting results so far. They showed resilience by holding England to a 2–2 draw last year before cruising to a 2–0 home series win over West Indies. However, momentum was stalled when South Africa handed them a 2–0 defeat on home soil.
