The inaugural of the World Test Championship (WTC) was officially launched on 29th July, Monday by the apex cricketing body, International Cricket Council (ICC). The championship will begin on August 1, 2019. In the next two years, 71 matches will be played in 27 series by the top nine Test-playing nations.

The top teams among the nine nations are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies. World Test Championship Final will be held in June 2021 (to be played in the UK) and the winners will be crowned ICC World Test Champions.

It has been learned that Indian skipper Virat Kohli is awaiting with great enthusiasm.  England’s leading test wicket-taker, James Anderson feels that the ICC World Test Championship is another brilliant initiative for cricket, adding context and relevance to every Test series. Australian Test captain Tim Paine is of the opinion that it is a fantastic initiative as cricket always draws huge support in Australia.

Each team will play three home and three away series and points will be available for each game.  Each series counts for 120 points, distributed over the number of matches in a series.  For example, a two-match series will mean 60 points for each Test while a three-match series will give 40 points to each Test match.  A tie will be 50% of the points available, whilst a draw will be a 3:1 point ratio.

The format of the match will be the same as followed in a bilateral series but the added context of competition has been added. Only one team would be declared as the champion. The number of matches in a series would vary between a minimum of two and a maximum of five. The first cycle of the WTC consists of only five-day matches and will include day-night matches. Matches which has been identified as part of WTC will be counted