After intense competitions for almost two years, the first edition of the ICC World Test Championship final will come a full circle when India will lock horns with New Zealand in the pinnacle clash. Southampton’s Rose Bowl Stadium will host the much-anticipated encounter starting from June 18. The tie was shifted from Lord’s to Southampton considering the safety of the cricketer amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Both India and New Zealand have been dominant forces in the tournament and have reached the final solely based on their performances. While the Kiwis have won six out of their last six games, Virat Kohli & Co lost a game against England to script four wins from five outings. The Black Caps have had an upper hand in head-to-head tie having whitewashed India when they last met in 2020.
An electrifying clash awaits in five weeks’ time with two of the best Test sides of modern-day cricket go up against each other.
ICC World Test Championship Final Squads
India
India have named a giant squad of 20-member along with four standby players. Wriddhiman Saha and KL Rahul’s availability for the tour of the UK will be subject to fitness clearance.
Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed. Shami, Mohammed. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).
Standby players – Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla
New Zealand
The Black Caps have also named a 20-man squad for their tour of New Zealand. They will play a two-match Test series against England before the World Test Championship final. Wicket-keeper batter BJ Watling has announced that he will retire after the pinnacle clash.
Kane Williamson (C), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryll Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (WK), Will Young.
What will happen if the match ends in a draw?
If the match ends in a draw, the trophy will be shared by both teams. They will be adjudged the champions irrespective of their position on the ICC Test Rankings.
What will be the follow-on rule for the WTC final?
In usual Test matches, the margin of lead needed to enforce a follow-on is reduced from 200 to 150 runs if the opening day’s play is washed out. However, with a reserve day available, this rule will not come into play in the WTC final, according to a report in Cricbuzz.
In case of the World Test Championship final, a lead of 200 runs to enforce a follow-on will apply even if the first day’s play is washed out. That is because the match will remain a five-day affair even if it begins on the second day. In case, the second day’s play is also washed out, the follow-on rule will then change to 150 runs.
How will reserve day be used in the WTC final?
The reserve day in the World Test Championship final will only be used to “ensure five full days of play”. In simple words, it will only be used if lost overs (due to any reason) won’t be completed in the first five days. The reserve day (at maximum) would comprise of 330 minutes or 83 overs before the last actual hour. Otherwise, only the amount of overs lost will be bowled on the reserve day.
However, if there are no interruptions over the five days due to inclement weather in Southampton, the match will not roll out to the sixth day.
Schedule and Venue for ICC World Test Championship Final
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final will be played between India and New Zealand starting from 18th June until 22nd June 2021. The WTC final will be played at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
When will the WTC final start?
The normal starting time for each day in the WTC final will be from 3:30 PM IST.
Where to watch the WTC final Live?
The WTC final will be aired live in English on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD and in Hindi on Star Sports 1 Hindi and Star Sports 1 Hindi HD. It will also be broadcasted on Star Sports 1 Telugu, Star Sports 1 Tamil, and Star Sports 1 Kannada.
How to watch the WTC final online?
The final will be streamed live on Hotstar.
Commentators for the WTC final?
The commentators for different languages for the World Test Championship final are given below:
English: Nasser Hussain, Mike Atherton, Dinesh Karthik, Sunil Gavaskar, Simon Doull
Hindi : Aakash Chopra, Sanjay Bangar, VVS Laxman, Irfan Pathan and Jatin Sapru
Tamil: L Balaji, Hemang Badani, Abhinav Mukund, Muthuraman R and Yomahesh Vijayakumar
Telugu: Kaushik NC, Ashish Reddy, Kalyan Krishna Doddapaneni, M.S.K Prasad and Venugopal Rao
