Who will win the World Test Championship if WTC final 2023 ends in a draw?

India and Australia are battling it out in the World Test Championship (WTC) final 2023, which will be played at the Oval from June 7 to 11.

The two teams met in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India earlier this year. The hosts won the four-match series 2-1. But with the conditions in England expected to be vastly different, the scoreline is unlikely to have any bearing on the WTC final.

Team India will be featuring in their second successive World Test Championship final. They down to New Zealand by eight wickets in the maiden WTC final in Southampton back in 2021. For the Aussies, they will be keen to add another ICC trophy to their impressive kitty, having failed to qualify for the final in the previous edition.

Looking at the head-to-head record between the two teams, they have taken on each other in 106 Tests, with Australia winning 44 and India 32. Twenty-nine matches have ended up a draw, while the two teams also played out an iconic tied Test in 1986.

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What happens if the IND vs AUS WTC 2023 final ends in a draw?

Australia topped the WTC 2021-23 points table with 152 points, while India finished second with 127 points. However, the Aussies will not be declared winners in case the final at the Oval ends in a draw.

As per the rules of the competition, both India and Australia will be declared joint winners in case of a stalemate.

There is a reserve day as well for the WTC final on June 12. That will, however, only come into effect if there has been an extensive loss of net playing time or overs during the five days of the Test.

Net playing time refers to six hours of play per day (total 30 hours), or 90 overs per day. The reserve day will be utilized only if the above conditions are not fulfilled.

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WTC Final 2023 squads

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Srikar Bharat, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Ishan Kishan.

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matt Renshaw, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Michael Neser.