The playing conditions stated by the ICC have confirmed the notion of allocating a reserve day to play in case of any disruption or time lost during the normal playing time. If the game ends in a tie or a draw, both the teams taking part in it will be announced as joint winners.
The WTC final is slated to happen between June 18-22, and June 23 is allocated as the reserve day. This is a step taken to make sure there are five full days of play. Obviously, the reserve day will not come into effect after a full five days of play, even if a positive result is not achieved.
“The reserve day will only be used if lost playing time cannot be recovered through the normal provisions of making up lost time each day,”
the ICC statement said.
The provisions to make up for the lost time are to extend the playtime by half an hour at the end of the day and resume the game half an hour ahead of time on the next day. The rule of having a Reserve Day will now allow the match referee to regularly analyze the game, keep the teams updated and make a decision before the final hour of play on Day Five.
According to the ICC, three more new rules – regarding short runs, player reviews and DRS reviews – will be implemented in the World Test Championship final. Incidentally, these rules have already come into effect in the recently concluded ODI series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Firstly, from now on – whenever an on-field umpire calls a ‘short run’, the third umpire will conduct a quick review and communicate the correct decision to the on-field umpire before the next ball is bowled.
Secondly, in case of a player review for an LBW decision, the fielding captain or the batsman on strike can consult with the on-field umpire about whether the batsman made a genuine attempt to play the ball.
Lastly, an amendment has been made for the LBW reviews where the height margin of the Wicket Zone has been lifted to the top of the stumps to make sure that the Umpire’s Call margin around the stumps for both height and width remains the same.
The ICC World Test Championship final is stated to be played with Grade 1 Dukes balls since the Kiwis use Kookaburra balls and the Indians use SG balls at their home.
Reduced quarantine period for India
The Indian team is expected to arrive in the UK on June 2 after quarantining for seven days in Mumbai from May 25. After their arrival in the UK, the Indian players were supposed to go through a 10-day quarantine, But with recent developments, the England and Wales Cricket Board has decided to cut down on the length of the quarantine period to just three days.
It was earlier reported that the BCCI had made a request to the ECB to reduce the isolation period for the Indian players to start practising for the final at the earliest and get used to the conditions in England. With the request now being granted, Team India is expected to start their training from the fourth day itself.
