2nd World Test Championship to have new points system
The second cycle of the World Test Championship is set to get underway with the upcoming India-England Test series. The tournament will sport a modified points system this time around, with the ICC leveling out the points for all Test matches while sticking with the much-debated percentage criteria.
According to ESPNcricinfo, each Test has been allotted the same number of points in the second World Test Championship, unlike the inaugural tournament where each series was worth the same number of points. The winning team will bag 12 points, a draw will result in four, while a tie will see both teams awarded six points each.
ICC’s acting chief executive officer Geoff Allardice was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo:
“The aim was to try and simplify the points system and to allow teams to be meaningfully compared on the table at any point, though they may have played differing numbers of matches and series."
All teams will be ranked in the points table based on the percentage of available points they won from the matches in the tournament. This rule is similar to the one applied by the ICC midway through the previous cycle, deriving disapproval from the likes of Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri.
Additionally, the overrate rule for the second World Test Championship will be a bit more sparring. For every over a team falls behind, one point is likely to be deducted from its overall tally, which is half of the penalty from the inaugural edition.
England & India to play the most matches in the 2nd World Test Championship
The second World Test Championship will see just two series of five Test matches each - England versus India in August and the Ashes in December. The 2022 Border-Gavaskar Trophy - which will be hosted by India - will be the only four-Test series.
Overall, there are seven three-match series and 13 two-match series. Each of the nine teams will continue to play six rubbers - three at home and three away - in the second World Test Championship.
England will play the most Tests in the two-year cycle (21), followed by India (19), Australia (18) and South Africa (15). World champions New Zealand will feature in just 13 Tests, one less than Pakistan and as many as West Indies and Sri Lanka.
The schedule and venue for the final are yet to be decided.