The World Test Championship has been termed as the new black in the cricketing roster at the moment with India and New Zealand all set to face-off in an extravagant five-day fiesta at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
The fray will be conducted from June 18th to 22nd with the 23rd being kept as a reserve day in case if the rain Gods intervene.
New Zealand became the first team to qualify for the final after Australia’s tour of South Africa was postponed earlier this year. They will be arriving in the grand finale, ranked second in the points table.
India’s hopes of appearing in the final were dangling by a thread after they were outclassed by England in the opening Test of the recently concluded bilateral series. However, the team made a stupendous comeback to stun the T20 World Champions that saw India imposing a 3-1 defeat upon their counterparts to qualify for the final and also end up as the ace of the points table.
With all said and done, and with rising hopes of cricket fans supposing a winner in the finale, the game can very well end up in a stalemate, which is a natural and a predominant conclusion in the longest format of the sport.
People may say that there is an additional day that can see off the results but that day will only come to play in case if the heavens choose to open up significantly.
What if the World Test Championship doesn’t find a winner?
Given India’s pole position in the points table, many cricketing fans are under the impression that in case of an impasse, India will most likely be ennobled with the honour of being the world champions. Unfortunately, that is not what ICC has mandated.
ICC has kept a separate day for the Test to be finished in case if the heavens crack wide open and the pouring is substantial enough to lose a day’s play. There has been a slick calculation that has been imposed behind the concept of the extra day.
Ideally, it has been calculated on the Net Playing Time of a Test match which is counted as 30 hours. This can be segregated further into six hours of play every day or 90 overs in a day. If the loss is close to any of these two figures, then the authorities may consider using June 23rd as a substantial option.
Now, another fact that needs a certain degree of explication is what if there is minimal loss of play in a single day. Ideally, as per the guidelines, the loss needs to be compensated on the exact same day.
Coming to the kernel of this deliberation, if the Test ends in a draw, the Championship will be shared as no tie-breaker has been scheduled. The crowd has been split into two separate factions over the same. One of them believes that after such an enduring path to the crown, ICC must have determined some way to crown one of the two teams. However, the counter half believes that this upshot will contain the true essence of the longest format of the sport.
