The start of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final has been pushed back by eight days and will now begin at Lord’s on June 18, keeping in mind the proximity with the next Indian Premier League’s (IPL) summit showdown. The final of the inaugural championship was tentatively scheduled to begin on June 10 at the iconic venue in London.
However, since the IPL final is also expected to be played around the same dates, it could have complicated the quarantine schedule of the participating players.
“The WTC Final will now be played from June 18-22 and June 23 will be the reserve day. As background we pushed it back to allow for any quarantine that may be imposed, particularly given the close proximity to the end of the IPL and the original dates) so driven by quarantine,” a BCCI source told PTI.
The IPL schedule has not been finalised as yet but it is expected to conclude towards the end the May. There is a close fight between India, Australia and New Zealand to compete for the title. India are leading the table with 430 points (PCT 71.7), followed by New Zealand (420, PCT 70) and Australia (332, PCT 69.2).
India recently jumped to the top of the table, following their 2-1 win in the four-match series in Australia.
India’s path to final
England closed in on the top three with a 2-0 series sweep in Sri Lanka. The nine-team table is led by India with 71.7%, ahead of New Zealand's 70%, Australia's 69.2% and England's 68.7%. In November, the ICC had announced that the points system for the World Test Championship would be remodelled due to the disruption caused to the regular calendar by COVID-19, with teams being ranked by percentage of points earned (PCT).
Remaining matches: Four-Test home series against England
India will need to win their upcoming four-match home series against England by at least a two-match margin. If they lose one Test, then they will need to win three games (4-0, 3-0, 3-1 or 2-0), whereas a 0-3 or 0-4 loss against England will wipe away their chances of making the final regardless of other results.
(With agency inputs)
