The Australia men’s cricket team captained by Pat Cummins defeated Indian men’s cricket team captained by Rohit Sharma by 209 runs in the finals to win the 2nd edition of International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23.
- The finals of the ICC WTC 2021-2023 was held at The Oval, London, the United Kingdom.
- ICC WTC 2021-2023 started on 4th August 2021 and finished with the Final on 7–11 June 2023.
- Australia batter Travis Head was adjudged the Player of the Match (Finals) for scoring 163 runs off 174 balls in 1st innings.
- India’s defeat in the ICC WTC final became the fourth defeat in an ICC tournament final since 2014.It includes India lost the final of the T20 World Cup to Sri Lanka in 2014, the Champions Trophy final to Pakistan in 2017, and the WTC final in 2021 to New Zealand.
About ICC World Test Championship:
i.The ICC World Test Championship is a two-year tournament with 9 teams competing for two spots in the WTC Final.
ii.Teams were ranked based on percentage of WTC points won in eligible Test matches. Each team played six WTC series – three at home and three away.Each test match has 12 points for a win, 4 for a draw, and 6 for a tie.
iii.The teams competing in the ICC WTC 2021-23 cycle are India, Australia, Bangladesh, England, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand.
Prize Money:
The total Prize for the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 cycle is USD 3.8 million.
The winners- USD 1.6 million
The runner- USD 800,000
Ist ICC World Test Championship 2019-21:
The 1st edition ICC World Test Championship was won by New Zealand by defeating India by eight wickets.
Highlights of ICC Test World Championship 2021-23:
i.Australian left-hander Travis Head becomes the first batsman to score a century (163 runs in 174) in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
- Head’s strike rate of 81.91 in the 2021-23 cycle is the highest among batters with at least 500 runs.
- His score in the final is the second-best individual score by any Australian batter at a neutral venue in Test cricket history.
ii.Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane becomes first indian to score a half-century in ICC World Test Championship final.He scored 89 runs in 129 balls. He became the 13th Indian batter to surpass 5000 runs in Tests.
iii.Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja surpassed Bishan Singh Bedi to become India’s most successful left-arm spinner in Test cricket. Ravindra Jadeja took 267 wickets in 65 matches at an average of 24.25. Bishan Singh Bedi has 266 wickets in 67 matches.
- Jadeja is the world 4th successful left arm-spinner in Tests. The top three in the list are Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (433 in 93 matches), Daniel Vettori (362 in 113 matches) and England’s Derek Underwood (297 wickets in 86 matches).
iv.Indian captain Rohit Sharma became the third-fastest opening batter to record 13,000 international runs across all formats in his 307th innings. He is behind Matthew Hayden (293 innings) and Sachin Tendulkar (295). He scored (15 runs in 1st and 43 runs in 2nd innings)
v.Virat Kohli becomes India’s highest run-scorer in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 cycle with 932 runs in 17 matches.
Duke Ball:
World Test Championship (WTC) Final match played with Duke Ball. This ball is preferred for the test matches in England and the West Indies. It is Manufactured by British Cricket Balls Limited and these are hand-stitched and more durable than other ball types.
Top 4 on the points table of ICC WTC 2021-23
| Rank | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 152 |
| 2 | India | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 127 |
| 3 | South Africa | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 100 |
| 4 | England | 22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 124 |
BEST PERFORMANCES in ICC WTC 2021-23:
Most runs: Joe Root (England)1915 runs in 22 matches.
Most wickets: Nathan Lyon (Australia) 88 wickets in 20 matches.
Australia’s ICC Titles:
Australia became the first and only team to win all Four major ICC events. This is the 9th time Australia have taken an ICC Trophy.
- ICC One Day International (ODI) World Cup -1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015
- ICC Champions trophy – 2006 and 2009.
- T20 International World Cup – 2021
- ICC World Test Championship 2021-23
About International Cricket Council (ICC):
Chairman– Greg Barclay
Headquarters- Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
