India slip to 2nd position in ICC World Test Championship

After disrupting cricket calendar and denting the games financial growth, COVID-19’s ugly effects have now made inroads in the points table of the World test Championship.

India who were leading the points table of the Championship have now slipped to the second position after the International Cricket Council decided to rank teams “in order of percentage of points earned” from the contested matches.

Australia, who have 296 points from three series, went past India who have scored 360 points from four series. However, Australia have earned a 82.22 percentage of points compared to India’s 75.

Due to COVID-19 just under half of the World Test Championship matches have been played, it’s estimated that by the time the competition window ends, close to 85 percent would not have been played. The existing regulations meant that incomplete matches were treated as draw.

However, ICC Cricket Committee, headed by Anil Kumble, recommended that the final WTC standings should be determined on the basis of matches played, which was approved by the Board.

“Both the Cricket Committee and Chief Executives Committee supported the approach of ranking teams based on completed matches and points earned as this reflects their performance and doesn’t disadvantage teams that have been unable to compete all of their matches through no fault of their own,” ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said.

“We explored a whole range of options, but our Members felt strongly that we should proceed as planned with the first ever World Test Championship Final in June next year,” he added.