After staging the first three editions of the World Test Championship (WTC) finals, England will once again be hosting the summit clash in 2027 and that too in the month of June.
According to a TOI report, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday (January 26) issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Social Responsibility Provider from 2024 to 2027. There it has been mentioned which countries will be staging the ICC events during the period.
In 2019, the ICC introduced the concept of WTC to popularize Test cricket. It is currently in its third edition.
While Southampton hosted the inaugural WTC final between India and New Zealand in 2021, the WTC 2023 final between India and Australia took place at The Oval. The iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground is slated to stage the WTC 2025 final.
Team India suffered their second successive loss in the WTC final last year. After the defeat, India skipper Rohit Sharma said that future finals should be held outside England and not necessarily be scheduled for June.
“Why after the IPL final? Why can’t it be March? June is not the only month we should play the final. It can be played any time of the year and anywhere in the world, not just in England, it can be played anywhere in the world,” Rohit had questioned.
Indian players had little time to acclimatize to the English conditions last year, having arrived straight off the IPL 2023 season.
However, ICC’s hand seems to be tied by the fact that several cricketing countries have their T20 leagues throughout the year, which means finding a window for the WTC final, other than in June, is difficult.
(With TOI Inputs)