Updated April 20th, 2021 at 09:20 IST

ICC says World Test Championship final to go ahead as planned after UK bans India arrivals

ICC on Monday said that the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship final will go ahead as planned after the UK placed India under the Red List.

Reported by: Vishal Tiwari
Image Credit: PTI/AP | Image:self
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday said that the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship final will go ahead as planned after the United Kingdom placed India under the "Red List" of its travel itinerary, cancelling all arrivals from the country. The World Test Championship final is slated to be played between India and New Zealand in June this year. However, the UK put India under the "Red List" yesterday because of the rising COVID-19 cases, which raised a lot of eyebrows regarding the fate of the first-ever Test championship final. But, ICC issued a statement later in the day saying the Test Championship final "will go ahead as planned". 

"We are currently discussing with the UK Government the impact of countries being on the ‘red list’. The ECB and other Members have demonstrated how we can stage international cricket safely in the middle of a pandemic, and we are confident that we can continue to do that and that the World Test Championship Final will go ahead as planned in June in the UK," the ICC said in a statement on Monday.  

India is currently witnessing a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as the country has been reporting more than 2 lakh new cases each day for the past five days. The second wave is far more severe than the first wave, which India experienced in the fall last year, with positivity rates far higher.

India vs New Zealand

India and New Zealand are scheduled to play the final of the first World Test Championship from June 18 to 22 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, England. India and New Zealand finished the Test championship calendar on top of the points table with 72.2% and 70.0% percentage of points. India booked a place in the final after defeating England 3-1 in a four-match home series played between February and March this year. Meanwhile, New Zealand became the first team to qualify for the WTC final after beating Pakistan 2-1 at home earlier this year. 

(Image Credit: PTI)

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Published April 20th, 2021 at 09:20 IST