WTC final should be best of three affair in long run: Shastri

India head coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday said the ICC World Test Championship final should be a best-of-three affair in the long run and not a one-off match like his side is set to play against New Zealand in the inaugural edition.

India leave for UK on Thursday to play the WTC final against New Zealand in Southampton from June 18, followedby the five-match Test series against England, starting on August 4.

"I think ideally, in the long run, if they want to pursue with this Test championship, best of three final would be ideal. A three match series as a culmination of two and a half years of cricket," Shastri said on the eve of the Indian team's departure to London.

"But they need to finish off the Future Tours Program (FTP) and then start all over again. So one off is one off, guys have earned their stripes, and this is not a team that is suddenly blossomed overnight."

India fly to UK after a 14-day quarantine while New Zealand are already getting valuable practice with the two-match series underway against England.

Shastri said the World Test Championship final must rank as of the biggest games in the history of Test cricket.

"See, it is the first time that you have a Test Championship final. When you look at the magnitude of the game that's going to be played, I think this is the biggest, if not the biggest ever, because it's the toughest form of the game.

"It's a format that tests you. It's not happened over three days or three months, it's happened over two years, where teams have played each other around the world, and earned their stripes to play the finals so it's one heck of an event."