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The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the prize money for the winners of the World Test Championship (WTC) final. The marquee fixture will kickstart on June 7 at the Oval between India and Australia.
The total purse to be shared between all nine teams is $3.8, while the winners will pocket $1.6 million. The runners-up will receive $800,000. The tournament prize money remains the same as it was for the 2019-21 cycle of the WTC.
New Zealand were rewarded with $1.6 million after beating India by eight wickets in Southampton in a rain-marred six-day WTC final. However, the Kiwis failed to qualify for the finals this time, finishing sixth in the cycle with four victories in 13 games.
South Africa will pocket $450,000 for finishing third in the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 standings. England, who racked up plenty of wins towards the end, will earn $350,000. Sri Lanka, one of the teams who were in the race to play the finals until their series loss to New Zealand, are fifth and will take home $200,000.
The remaining teams New Zealand (No.6), Pakistan (No.7), West Indies (No.8), and Bangladesh (No.9) will get a sum of $100,000 each.
"He'll be the prize wicket that all the Australians are looking forward to" - Ricky Ponting on Virat Kohli ahead of WTC final
Meanwhile, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has warned Pat Cummins and co. that Virat Kohli has returned to his best form, which spells trouble for the opposition. The Tasmanian said in a recent episode of the ICC Review:
"I caught up with Virat about a month ago when we played them in Bangalore. And I had a good chat to him about his batting and where he was at and his career. And he said to me then that he actually feels like he's almost back to his absolute best. You probably saw that last night, you know, he's had a very good IPL and I'm sure he'll be the prize wicket that all the Australians are looking forward to."
Kohli was in stellar form during IPL 2023, hitting 639 runs in 14 matches, averaging over 50 with two centuries.
