WTC: India to start ‘23-25 cycle with WI tour, will also play Aus, Eng

Press Trust of India

Bengaluru: India will begin the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with the upcoming tour to the West Indies in July and over the next two-year period will play some high-profile bilateral series against Australia and England among others.

India will travel to West Indies next month to play two Test matches in Dominica (July 12-16) and Trinidad (July 20-24). India have been finalists in the first two editions of the WTC, losing to New Zealand (2021) and to Australia (2023) in the final.

The WTC 2023-25 cycle will begin with the Ashes, when England face Australia in Birmingham on Friday. After the tour to Windies, India’s next WTC assignment will be on away shores against South Africa between December 2023 and January 2024. Followed by that, India will host England for a fivematch Test series in January-February 2024.

They will then lock horns with Bangladesh in SeptemberOctober 2024 At home and immediately after that New Zealand will visit the subcontinent for a three-match Test series in October-November 2024. After those two relatively easy home schedules, India will travel to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a five-match series, against Australia between November 2024 and January 2025, which also marks the end of India’s WTC engagements.

Wasim Khan, ICC’s General Manager of Cricket said: “This championship has invigorated Test match cricket, bringing context for players and fans, and a high level of competitiveness as teams battle it out to be crowned World Test Champions at the end of the two-year cycle. “The big turnout out at The Oval over the five days and the incredible viewership levels across the globe for the final is testimony to the continued popularity of Test cricket.”

The structure of the nine-team WTC remains intact with each side playing three home and as many away series over a two-year period culminating in the final of a one-off Test. The points percentage system used in the previous edition will determine the leaderboard with teams getting 12 points for a win, 6 for a tie and 4 for a draw.