As was the case in the inaugural edition a couple of years ago, the grand finale of the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship is also a one-match affair. Currently being played between Australia and India at The Oval, a match being played on a neutral venue will decide the winner of the 2021-2023 cycle.
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Unlike other ICC (International Cricket Council) tournaments, the knockout phase of the Test Championship comprises of a solitary match, i.e., the final. In the absence of quarter-finals and semi-finals, the top two teams (Australia and India, in this case) on the points table directly qualify for the final.
How Many Matches In WTC Final 2023?
That being said, there have been a lot of suggestions around tinkering with the knockout leg of the WTC since the first season. A common reasoning behind the same is a solitary match not doing justice to a tournament which is played for almost two years.
Former India batter Aakash Chopra took to social media platform Twitter yesterday to express disappointment with respect to the manner in which a lone contest doesn’t give the “respect” which Test cricket deserves. Chopra went on to write that handing the mace to the table-toppers would be a better choice than conducting a final in the absence of a three-match series as finale.
If you can’t accommodate three-tests, why bother with the finals at all? The team that has topped the table over 2-years should be given the mace…as it used to be the case earlier. In any case, there’s no uniformity in terms of how many Tests each series should have. 2/2
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 7, 2023
A primary reason behind ICC not arranging three Tests as part of the final is the lack of space in the international cricketing calendar. While the same is true amid an already packed calendar, ICC can plan in a better way for the third edition taking into consideration how that final will be played in three years’ time from now.
How Many Innings In WTC Final 2023?
As is the case in any other Test match, a total of four innings (two per team) will be played across the five-day match.
Can India Beat Australia At The Oval?
As for the current match, India are lacking behind drastically after being reduced to 151/5 in 38 overs at Stumps, Day 2. Still 318 runs behind Australia’s first-innings score of 469, India’s chief task on Day 3 would be to avoid a follow-on to not find themselves in an embarrassing situation.
With batter Ajinkya Rahane (29*) and wicket-keeper batter Srikar Bharat (5*) set to resume proceedings tomorrow, they have a golden opportunity to put on display a match-saving partnership in a match of this importance.
If truth be told, India do require a miraculous turnaround in order to beat Australia from this point. In addition to substantial contributions from the lower order, they will also require their bowlers to bundle out Australia cheaply in the second innings to not be chasing a mammoth target in the fourth innings.
Considering how cricket has produced astounding comebacks over the years, Indians fans would be hoping for one during the course of the next three days.
