The two teams contesting will win the WTC final in case of a draw. Both teams will be announced as joint-winners of the World Test Championship 2023 if the final of the competition ends in a draw.
What is the World Test Championship?
World Test Championship is the competition run by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a period of two years in every cycle to determine the champion in the format. Each team plays a set of series at home and away in order to make it to the final of the tournament. The top two teams in the points table make it to the final of the World Test Championship at the end of each cycle.
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The tournament also fits in ICC’s intention of having one pinnacle event for each of the three formats in cricket.
How many teams play in the WTC 2021-23?
The top nine ranked teams in the ICC Test Rankings are playing in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23. The likes of Australia, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, England, Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand and Bangladesh have participated in the WTC. The same set of nine teams played the inaugural edition of the tournament as well.
Why was the World Test Championship introduced?
World Test Championship was introduced by the ICC to reignite the oldest and most significant format. The tournament once again increased the importance of Test cricket and no game in a bilateral series is a dead rubber anymore. The teams look to win all matches of the series in order to earn maximum points out of every series to eventually make it to the final of the Championship.
The introduction of WTC has served its purpose as the interest in Test cricket among fans has grown by leaps and bounds. The significance of the format was never in question but the advent of T20 cricket was overshadowing Test cricket. So WTC has certainly given a new lease of life to red-ball cricket.
How many series will each team play and do all series count?
The league stage of the World Test Championship is designed in such a way that each team plays around 12 to 22 matches. Every team will play a total of six series, three each at home and away, over a period of two years. Also, to not disturb historic battles such as Ashes, Border-Gavaskar trophy etc, the ICC has given a leeway to the team to play at least two and a maximum of five Test matches in a series.
The Big Three of World Cricket, India, Australia and England have been involved in five-match Test series in different series amongst them. The ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia is the last four-match series and from the next WTC cycle, the two marquee teams will be facing each other in a five-match series.
The Ashes series has always been a five-match Test series while India and England have also been playing a five-match Test series for quite some time now. The rest of the teams play 2 or 3-match series against these sides or among themselves.
The points system in the WTC table
The points system in the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship attracted a lot of controversies. Hence, ICC changed the points system in the WTC 2021-23 cycle. 12 points will be awarded to a team winning the Test match while a tie is worth 6 points. On the other hand, a drawn Test means two teams will win 4 points each while there are 0 points for the team losing a Test match.
With the number of matches in a bilateral series varying between two and five for all teams, ICC introduced the percentage of points won to make it a level playing field for all the participating sides.
Interestingly, a point will be deducted if a team bowls an over less in a stipulated period of time. One point will be deducted for each over a team bowls less in their bowling innings.
Which two teams will make the WTC final?
At the end of the two-year cycle, the two teams who have the best percentage of points won, in other words, who are at the top two positions in the points table, will make it to the final of the World Test Championship. India and New Zealand qualified for the final in the inaugural edition of the Championship.
As for the second edition of the tournament, the finalists are not locked in yet. But India and Australia currently seem to be the favourites to make it to the final.
What will happen in case the WTC final is a draw?
ICC is making every possible effort to make the Test format interesting. The global governing body added a reserve day for the WTC final and it helped New Zealand to win the Championship in the previous cycle. However, even after an added sixth day, the WTC final ends in a draw, then the two teams will be announced joint-winners.
When and where will the WTC final of 2023 be held?
The World Test Championship final of the 2021-23 cycle will take place from June 7 to 11. The final is scheduled to be played at The Oval in London.
WTC final 2021: recap
India and New Zealand locked horns in the first-ever WTC final in June 2021. The match was marred by a lot of rain in Southampton but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the two teams who fought neck and neck and managed to eke out a result on the reserve day.
Batting first, team India could only post 217 runs in the first innings in tough conditions for batting. Ajinkya Rahane was the top-scorer with 49 runs while then skipper Virat Kohli made 44 runs. Kyle Jamieson picked up a sensational five-wicket haul to restrict India.
In response, New Zealand couldn’t bag a huge lead and were skittled for just 249 runs in their first essay. Only Devon Conway could cross the 50-run mark scoring 54 runs while Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma were the top bowlers for India sharing seven wickets between them.
However, the 32-run lead proved to be crucial in the end as India stumbled with the bat in the second innings. With all the batters wasting starts, the Kohli-led side could only muster 170 runs before getting bundled out. A 32-run lead meant that New Zealand had to chase only 139 runs to win the first-ever World Test Championship.
And they did it with aplomb despite India fighting well with the ball. The experienced duo of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson added an unbeaten 96 for the third wicket to take the team over the line and create history.
WTC 2021 points table:
| Ranking | Country | Matches | Won | Lost | Draw | Tie | Points | Percentage Points Won |
| 1 | India | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 520 | 72.2 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 420 | 70 |
| 3 | Australia | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 332 | 69.2 |
| 4 | England | 21 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 442 | 64.1 |
| 5 | Pakistan | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 286 | 43.3 |
| 6 | West Indies | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 200 | 33.3 |
| 7 | South Africa | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 144 | 30 |
| 8 | Sri Lanka | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 200 | 27.8 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 7 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0.48 |
FAQs
What happens if the World Cup final is a draw?
If the World Cup final ends in a draw (tie), a super over happens to determine a winner. In case, the rain plays spoilsport, then the rest of the game is played on the reserve day. Even then, if the result of the match doesn’t come out, then the two teams are announced joint-winners.
What happens if the football final of the FIFA World Cup ends in a draw?
If the football final of the World Cup ends in a draw, the game goes on for 30 more minutes. If the final still ends in a draw, then a penalty shootout takes place to determine the winner of the FIFA World Cup.
