The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday (July 14) announced the fixtures for the second edition of the World Test Championship (WTC), starting next month.

Just like the inaugural edition, nine teams will play six series each (three home and three away) in the second cycle with the cut-off date being 31st March 2023.

See Also: International Cricket Council releases points system for next WTC cycle

Defending champions New Zealand will host South Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and play England, Pakistan and India away.

On the other hand, Team India – runners-up of the first-ever WTC – will play Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Australia at home and Bangladesh, England and South Africa away.

Here’s the complete fixtures:

India’s new cycle begins with the upcoming five-match Test series against England, starting August 4 at Trent Bridge.

“It was great to have played the final of the ICC World Test Championship against New Zealand in what was a memorable contest," India skipper Virat Kohli said in an official release by ICC.

“Not just the final, we saw the determination of players throughout the first edition of the championship.

“The following of cricket lovers too was great to see, and I am sure they will all be waiting eagerly for the second edition.

“We will regroup with new energy for the next cycle starting with our series against England, hoping to give our fans a lot to cheer about."

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said: “It was obviously pretty special to win the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in Southampton last month and it’s exciting to now look ahead to the second edition.

“The WTC has certainly added more context and brought new meaning to Test cricket and it was awesome to see the interest that was generated around the Final against India.

“We know trying to defend the title will be a huge challenge, but our focus will be on making sure we prepare as well as we can for the tours ahead and trying to maintain our level of performance."

England captain Joe Root said: “We start our campaign in the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship against the finalists of last time, which is an interesting challenge straight away.

“India are a fine all-round side and it would be good to test them in our home conditions. “We narrowly missed out on qualifying for the final last time and are looking to do better this time.

“Test cricket is a format we all want to excel in and with points at stake for each match, everyone has to be at their best all the time."