ICC announces India's full fledged fixtures for WTC 2021-23

The 2019-21 cycle of the World Test Championship saw the final being played between India and New Zealand at Southampton where Kiwis walked away with the ultimate glory. As the next cycle of WTC for India is all set to commence with their five-match Test series against England, the schedule for their further fixtures is out for the public. India’s high-profile clash against the English team will commence on August 04.

After playing England in their home, India would rub off shoulders against New Zealand in a two-match Test series in India. It would be followed up by another big clash where Australia and India will fight out in a four-match series in India. After this series, India will pack bags for South Africa to lock horns with them in the three-match series.

The next fixture for Virat Kohli and his men will unfold against Sri Lanka in home conditions while fighting it out in three games. Finally, India will move to Bangladesh to play two-match Test series against the home team. The extensive schedule of India got out on the table after the new points system came into effect. It has to be noted that the percentage system which was followed in the last cycle of WTC received a lot of flak for not being uniform at all.

Here is the schedule for India for WTC 2021-23

Schedule for Indian team in WTC 2021-23:

vs England in England (5 Tests)
vs New Zealand in India (2 Tests)
vs Australia in India (4 Tests)
vs South Africa in South Africa (3 Tests)
vs Sri Lanka in India (3 Tests)
vs Bangladesh in Bangladesh (2 Tests)

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 14, 2021

From now, every win in the WTC would be awarded 12 points, four for a draw match and six points for a tie. Countries also went on to add that they didn’t get a fair chance to compete in the WTC owing to the percentage points system. However, ICC Acting Chief Executive Geoff Allardice cleared his say on the matter.

“We received feedback that the previous points system needed to be simplified. The Cricket Committee took this into consideration when proposing a new, standardized points system for each match. It maintained the principle of ensuring that all matches in a WTC series count towards a team’s standing, while accommodating series varying in length between two Tests and five Tests,” stated Geoff Allardice.