World Test Championship Final On Course To Be Held In June 2021: ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is hopeful of conducting the final of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) in June next year despite the disruption caused to the qualifying process by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic brought the entire game to a standstill in March this year, leading to the cancellation of a number of series. Consequently, there were apprehensions that the final of the WTC might not take place in its scheduled time. However, the ICC has still not given up on conducting the final in June.

“The planning is still in progress,” an ICC spokesman told Reuters without elaborating how the point system would be reworked.

“There is likely to be more clarity in the coming days once all stakeholders are aligned. There will be an announcement on this soon,” added the spokesman.

Earlier this year, the ICC had to also postpone the T20 World Cup in Australia due to the pandemic. As far as international cricket is concerned, it finally resumed in July when England hosted West Indies before welcoming Ireland, Pakistan and Australia too.

All the games were held in empty stadiums while the teams were staying in bio-secure bubbles. At present, the Indian Premier League is going on in UAE due to the alarming coronavirus condition in India.

The WTC was launched by ICC last year to lend context to bilateral Test series, giving the format its standalone showpiece like the World Cup in other formats. As per the format, the nine top-ranked sides are scheduled to play six series over two years with the top two making the final at Lord’s.

India currently top the WTC points table, having played four series, followed by Australia who have played one fewer. England have played four, including home series against West Indies and Pakistan in July-August, and are third. India are scheduled to visit Australia in November for the four-match Test series before hosting England early next year.

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