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Cape Town - India captain Virat Kohli believes a World Test Championship (WTC) is happening at the right time and is excited at the prospect of playing for a trophy in the longest format.
The WTC will be contested among the nine Test-playing nations over a two-year period with the top two sides playing in a final at the end of the cycle in June 2021.
The Ashes, starting on August 1, will be the start matches in the WTC while India will kick off their campaign with a two-match Test series against the West Indies away from home next month.
"It (the WTC) is very exciting. I think it's happening at the right time for Test cricket," Kohli told the Times of India.
"Although you are going to play a bilateral series, the meaning and importance are way more.
"You have to plan for every series. I was excited about something of this sort and now it's coming to life."
India will also play three T20Is and three ODIs on their tour to the Caribbean and the selectors have given plenty of younger players an opportunity to impress after the recent World Cup where the Asian side lost in the semi-finals.
They have recalled batsmen Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer while Navdeep Saini and Rahul Chahar are in line to make their international debuts and Kohli was full of praise for the younger players.
The India skipper added: "They are amazing. Skills have developed because of exposure to tournaments like the IPL.
"It's the best thing that can happen to a cricketer. They are so confident by the time they come here that they learn very quickly from their mistakes because they have already played in front of so many people.
"But the intent has to be that 'I am using this platform to play for my country'. And I think that these guys are in that zone."
