The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the broadcasting details and the commentary team for the inaugural ICC World Test Championship Final being played between India and New Zealand from June 18 to 22, in Southampton.
Star Sports will broadcast the WTC 2021 Final in five languages Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. Fans will also be able to see clips of the match on Facebook. The match will also be live-streamed on the new ICC.tv platform.
Apart from Star Sports, ICC inked deals with leading global broadcasters, including Sky Sports in New Zealand, Fox Sports in Australia, Supersport in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Sky Sports in the UK. Fans in the US have an array of options, via Hotstar, ESPN+, and Willow TV to maximize reach.
Furthermore, the commentary team for the ICC World Test Championship final will see stalwarts of the game like Sunil Gavaskar, Kumar Sangakkara, Nasser Hussain, Simon Doull, Isa Guha, Ian Bishop, and Michael Atherton.
Joining them to bring fresh views on the two teams will be New Zealand’s Craig McMillan and India’s Dinesh Karthik.
“The inaugural WTC Final is the much-anticipated pinnacle event in Test cricket, and I am looking forward to an exciting match between India and New Zealand. There is so much at stake here, both teams look evenly matched and what makes it even more interesting is that they are going to be playing at a neutral venue. It’s an honor to work as a broadcaster on this historic event,” Dinesh Karthik said on his maiden commentary stint.
Craig McMillan added: “The inaugural World Test Championship is an exciting platform for giving that much-needed context to Test cricket. Teams around the world have worked hard through the last two years to earn their place in the WTC Final. Both India and New Zealand deserve to be here. I am excited to be calling the game with some of the best in the business and watching some classic Test cricket.”
Isa Guha added: “A contest between two evenly poised teams, at an event which is one of its kind – the inaugural Men’s World Test Championship Final promises to be a classic. It is also the first-ever time that we will have a champion in the Test cricket format. I am eagerly looking forward to calling this game.”
Sunil Gavaskar wishes good luck to Dinesh Karthik on commentary debut
Kumar Sangakkara added: “India and New Zealand have both earned their place in the World Test Championship Final. I am looking forward to some glorious cricket from both sides and wish the teams the very best in this highly anticipated tournament finale.”
Nasser Hussain added: “We have seen some fantastic Test cricket being played in the last two years as part of the World Test Championship, some newer heroes of the game have emerged and the Test format has seen increased interest across the globe, especially over the last few months. The inaugural WTC final will be an exciting contest between two very worthy opponents. I am looking forward to this contest.”
(ICC inputs)
