ICC World Test Championship Schedule 2025

The ICC World Test Championship (ICC WTC) is the flagship event of the Test format. The competition is a biennial event and is organised by the governing body of the game.

The inaugural edition of the WTC was held from 2019 to 2021 with nine teams participating in it. India and New Zealand made it to the final after finishing in the top two of the points table. New Zealand went on to beat India by 8 wickets to become the first-ever WTC champions.

The second edition was played from 2021 to 2023. Australia and India qualified for the final before the former won the game by 209 runs to win the WTC title. The third edition was played from 2023 to 2025. South Africa and Australia have qualified for the final after finishing in the top two. 

ICC WTC Schedule:

The top nine teams in the ICC Test Rankings participate in the WTC. The same nine teams have played in all the three WTC cycles so far while the other three Test playing nations are yet to make their debut in the competition.

The nine teams that have played in the championship so far are - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and England. On the other hand, Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan have Test status but are yet to play in the WTC.

According to the ICC WTC Schedule, each team plays a total of six series in a cycle - three at home and three away. Of the nine participating teams, only India and Pakistan do not play against each other due to the suspension of the bilateral ties between the two teams.

While the entire WTC cycle is organised by the ICC, the ICC WTC fixtures are decided by the competing countries. The number of Test matches in a series is also decided by the competing nations. The bilateral series are also conducted by the host nation while only the WTC final is conducted by the ICC.

Unlike the inaugural WTC cycle when points were given on series-to-series basis, the teams now earn points on match-to-match basis. A team earns 12 points for winning a match, six for a tie and four for a draw.

However, the position of a team in the points table is not decided by the total number of points but by percentage of points won. As a result, a win (12 points) is 100%, a tie (six points) 50% and a draw (four points) 33.3%.

Before the start of the WTC, the ICC was under immense pressure to revive Test cricket. The popularity of the oldest format of the game was on a steady decline due to the meteoric rise of T20 cricket. The WTC has definitely added more context to the Test matches now and has managed to enhance the popularity of the format.

To ensure that you don't miss out on any action in WTC, follow Cricket Addictor. It is your one-stop destination for everything related to the championship. From WTC schedule, team, squads, match results to all other details, we cover every news related to the championship in detail.