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The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Friday, announced the playing conditions for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final to be played between India and New Zealand in Southampton from June 18.
One of the major updates is that India and New Zealand will be declared joint winners in case of a draw or a tie. In addition, a reserve day has also been allotted to make up for loss of playing time. With the WTC final to be held from June 18 to 22, June 23 has been announced as the reserve day.
Further, the WTC final will also see the implementation of playing conditions, which came into effect during the ongoing limited-overs series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The rules pertain to short balls, player reviews and DRS reviews.
Key observations regarding playing conditions for WTC final
With the ICC announcing the playing conditions for the WTC final between India and New Zealand, we take a detailed look at what it means for the players and the game in general.
#1 Joint winners in case of a draw/tie a fair result
The ICC has informed that in case the WTC final ends in a draw or a tie, the two teams will share the trophy. This will be an absolutely fair result if neither side comes out as a clear winner. The ICC seems to have learned its lessons the harsh way, following the backlash to the manner in which the 2019 World Cup winner was decided.
After the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand at Lord’s was tied, the summit clash headed into the Super Over, which, incredibly, was also tied. Neither side deserved to lose and the teams should, ideally, have been declared joint-winners.
England, however, were crowned world champions on the basis of a bizarre boundary count rule. Rest assured, such a disaster would not be repeated in the WTC final.
#2 Players can make an informed choice on reviews
Another condition for the WTC final is that the fielding captain or the dismissed batsman may confirm with the umpire whether a genuine attempt has been made to play the ball prior to deciding whether to initiate a player review for LBW.
This option will give the players a comparatively better idea as to whether or not they should go ahead with a review. As all cricket fans would be aware, if the umpire believes a genuine attempt has not been made to play the ball, the batsman can be adjudged lbw even if the ball has struck him outside the line of the off stump.
The only condition here is that the ball should be going on to hit the stumps.
#3 LBW reviews could be fairer
The ICC informed that, for LBW reviews during the WTC final, the height margin of the wicket zone will be lifted to the top of the stumps to ensure the same umpire's call margin is around the stumps for both height and width.
This basically means that the review which, until now covered till the base of the bails, will extend to the top of the bails as well. This will increase the height of the wicket zone while analyzing the trajectory of the ball.
As per the existing rule, 50 per cent of the ball should be hitting at least one of the three stumps for the batsman to be adjudged LBW on review in case an umpire's not out call has been challenged.
Indian captain Virat Kohli had termed the rule confusing. According to him, a batsman should be out if the ball is hitting the stumps, irrespective of the margins. The ICC, however, has retained the rule with the ‘height margin’ modification.
#4 ‘Short run’ review by third umpire a relief for on-field umpires
As per the short run rule for the WTC final, the third umpire will automatically review any call of a ‘short run’ by the on-field umpire and communicate the decision to the on-field umpires prior to the next ball being bowled.
There have been a few cases in recent times where the on-field umpires have got it wrong with regards to short runs. With the advent of latest technology, every error of those officiating in matches gets magnified. This is all the more true for mega events like the WTC final or the World Cup.
Like the players, the umpires too are constantly under pressure to get things right. The short run rule modification will be a helping hand for them.
#5 Reserve day a sensible option
The ICC has also announced a reserve day to make up for any lost time during the regular days of the WTC final. As per the playing conditions, the reserve day has been scheduled to ensure five full days of play.
There is already a provision to make up for lost time by having additional play on each day of the Test. The reserve day will be used if the lost playing time cannot be made up through the normal provisions. Of course, there will be no additional day if all five days are completed and no result is achieved. In such a scenario, the Test will end in a draw.
Even so, a reserve day is a good cushion with regards to the ultimate objective of trying to achieve a result in the WTC final.
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