Anupama Nair
There is a common perception that Test cricket may be losing popularity, particularly in the face of the advent of One Day International (ODI), and the wham bam T20. Pink Ball Test matches have been floated as one way to address this problem. India has won two of her three Pink Ball Tests played, the only loss to Australia in the infamous 32 all out, in Adelaide. However, this fall in popularity has been disputed, with the famous Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) poll showing that 86% of all cricket fans support Test cricket, more than any other format. This is a great sign for Test Cricket.
Each team play six other opponents, three at home and three away and each series comprise between two and five matches. Therefore, all the participants do not play the same number of Tests, but play the same number of series. At the end of the league stage the top two teams play in the final. Each match is for duration of five days. After Corona forced many matches to be cancelled in the previous edition, ICC changed the points system to account for the variation in the number of series played per team and Percentage of Points or PoP was adopted.
The second edition of the World Test Championship was inaugurated with the India—England Series and the Pakistan—West Indies Series. Now let me tell you about India’s journey along with other countries to WTC 2023.
England vs India
1st Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, August 4 – August 8
2nd Test at Lord’s, London, August 12 – August 16
3rd Test at Headingley, Leeds, August 25- August 29
4th Test at Kensington Oval, London, September 2 – September 6
5th Test at Old Trafford, Manchester, September 10 – September 14
West Indies vs Pakistan
1st Test at Sabina Park, Jamaica, August 12 – August 16
2nd Test at Sabina Park, Jamaica, August 20 – August 24
India vs New Zealand
1st Test – November 2021
2nd Test – November 2021
Bangladesh vs Pakistan
1st Test – November 2021
2nd Test – November 2021
Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka
1st Test – December 2021
2nd Test – December 2021
Ashes 2021-22
1st Test at the Gabba, Brisbane, December 8- December 12
2nd Test at the Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, December 16-December 20
3rd Test at the MCG, Melbourne, 30 December 26– December 30
4th Test at the SCG, Sydney, January 5 – January 9
5th Test at the Optus Stadium, Perth, January 14 – January 18
New Zealand vs Bangladesh
1st Test – December 2021
2nd Test – January 2022
South Africa vs India
1st Test – December 2021
2nd Test – December 2021
3rd Test – January 2021
Pakistan vs Australia
1st Test – February 2022
2nd Test – February 2022
India vs Sri Lanka
1st Test – February 2022
2nd Test – February 2022
3rd Test – March 2022
West Indies vs England
1st Test – March 2022
2nd Test – March 2022
3rd Test – March 2022
South Africa vs Bangladesh
1st Test – March 2022
2nd Test – March 2022
West Indies vs Bangladesh
1st Test – June 2022
2nd Test – June 2022
England vs New Zealand
1st Test – June 2022
2nd Test – June 2022
3rd Test – June 2022
Pakistan vs England
1st Test – October 2022
2nd Test – October 2022
3rd Test – October 2022
India vs Australia
1st Test – October/ November 2022
2nd Test – October/ November 2022
3rd Test – October/ November 2022
4th Test – October/ November 2022
Bangladesh vs India
1st Test – November 2022
2nd Test – November 2022
Pakistan vs New Zealand
1st Test – November 2022
2nd Test – November 2022
This is the full schedule of WTC II. I for one, hope to see an India—Pakistan final. It sure can get as exciting as that.
Yes would like to see india Pakistan finals.