WTC 2021-23 Cycle: India will 'regroup with new energy,' says Virat Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli said on Wednesday that his side will "regroup" and will look to give their fans "a lot to cheer about" in the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the schedule for the 2021-23 WTC cycle on Wednesday.

Runner's up of the inaugural WTC edition, Team India lost the 2019-21 WTC final to World No. 1 New Zealand by eight wickets at Rose Bowl, Southampton last month.

"It was great to have played the final of the ICC World Test Championship against New Zealand in what was a memorable contest. Not just the final, we saw the determination of players throughout the first edition of the championship. The following of cricket lovers too was great to see, and I am sure they will all be waiting eagerly for the second edition," Kohli said in ICC's press release.

India are set to host Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia in the upcoming WTC cycle, while their overseas assignments are in England, South Africa, and Bangladesh.

Kohli-led India are set to kickstart their new campaign with an away series against England. The five-match Test series between India and England is scheduled to begin on August 4 in Nottingham. The other four Tests have bee scheduled to be played in London (Oval and Lord's), Leeds, and Manchester.

"We will regroup with new energy for the next cycle starting with our series against England, hoping to give our fans a lot to cheer about," Kohli added further.

Joe Root: India series interesting challenge

Following their 3-1 loss to India earlier this year, Joe Root's England missed out on the WTC final.

"We start our campaign in the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship against the finalists of last time, which is an interesting challenge straight away," England captain Root was quoted by ICC, as saying.

"India are a fine all-round side and it would be good to test them in our home conditions. We narrowly missed out on qualifying for the final last time and are looking to do better this time. Test cricket is a format we all want to excel in and with points at stake for each match, everyone has to be at their best all the time," added Root.

Kane Williamson: Defending title will be huge challenge

Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said his side has a huge challenge of defending their title ahead of them.

"We know trying to defend the title will be a huge challenge, but our focus will be on making sure we prepare as well as we can for the tours ahead and trying to maintain our level of performance.

It was obviously pretty special to win the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in Southampton last month and it's exciting to now look ahead to the second edition. The WTC has certainly added more context and brought new meaning to Test cricket and it was awesome to see the interest that was generated around the final against India," said Williamson in the ICC's press release.