WTC Final: "Looks like it will end in a draw" - Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar believes that the inaugural World Test Championship Final will end in a draw after rain played spoilsport once again at the start of Day 4. The legendary batsman predicted India and New Zealand will share the trophy.

The first session of Day 4 has already been washed out due to rain. Things are unlikely to get any better, with the weather forecast predicting incessant rain throughout the day.

Sunil Gavaskar spoke to Aaj Tak from Southampton and admitted the WTC Final is likely to end in a draw with just two days of cricketing action left.

“It looks like the World Test Championship Final will end in a draw and the trophy would be shared. It would be the first time that a trophy has been shared in the final. There are penalty shootouts in football or other criteria to decide a winner. In tennis, there are five sets and then a tiebreaker to get a winner. In Tests, we can only have a draw in such instances, and there is a high probability of a draw here as well,” Sunil Gavaskar claimed.

Although Day 4 hasn’t been completely washed out, it is widely believed that the day’s play being abandoned is a matter of when and not if. With rain continuing to fall at Southampton, Sunil Gavaskar offered a bleak weather update from the stadium.

“Everyone around here is saying that there is no chance of play today. It means only two days are left. To complete three innings in two days would be really difficult. Yes, if both teams bat really badly, the three innings could be completed,” Sunil Gavaskar suggested.

Lunch has been taken at the Hampshire Bowl with no play in the first session on Day 4️⃣.#TeamIndia #WTC21 pic.twitter.com/ltrWfhFiNV

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 21, 2021

“There should have been some way to decide a winner” – Sunil Gavaskar

World Test Championship Final playing conditions announced https://t.co/ku0FTaSAeL via @ICC

— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) May 28, 2021

With three innings yet to be completed, the draw looks the most likely result in Southampton. The regulations mean the trophy will be shared by India and New Zealand in that instance, but Sunil Gavaskar feels the ICC should have finalized criteria to determine a sole winner before the tournament got underway.

“There should have been some way to decide a winner. In the 2019 World Cup, we saw the team that hit the most boundaries lift the trophy. Due to the pandemic, the table was decided based on percentage points rather than outright points. The goalpost kept shifting throughout the World Test Championship, which wasn’t fair for any team. They should have considered all things and developed a criteria to decide a winner,” Sunil Gavaskar signed off.

The decision to host the WTC Final in England has attracted severe criticism from all quarters, with the ICC slammed for its haphazard organization of the event.