Highlights:
- India and New Zealand will share WTC Mace in case of a draw
- Gavaskar: High chances that the WTC final will end up as a draw
- Sehwag takes a dig at ICC on Twitter
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar feels that the Internation Cricket Council (ICC) should find a way to decide a winner in case the rain-hit World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand ends in a draw.
The ongoing match has been affected by the English weather with the opening and the fourth day washed out completely, while the play has been disrupted frequently due to bad light on days two and three.
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Even though there is a reserve day but with no play possible for two out of the first four days, there are high chances that the match could end in a draw if the inclement weather continues to play its role of being a spoilsport.
Gavaskar tol Aaj Tak, “There must be a formula to pick a winner in case of a drawn World Test Championship final. ICC’s cricket committee should think and then take a decision”.
Though it is highly unlikely that any changes be made in the rules in this edition as the ICC had made it clear last month that India and New Zealand will share the trophy in case of a draw or a tie.
Gavaskar said, “It seems that the World Test Championship final will end up as a draw and the trophy will be shared. This will be the first time that the trophy will be shared in a final.
“To complete three innings in two days would be really difficult. Yes, if both teams bat really badly, the three innings could be completed.”
In the WTC final, a total of 141.1 overs have been bowled with 196 overs still left to be bowled in the match, a result can be seen at the end of the line given the weather remains favourable.
The former Indian skipper urged the International Cricket Council to find a tie-breaker to determine a winner and cited examples of other sports such as football and tennis.
The 71 year old said, “In football, they have a penalty shoot out or they have some other method to decide a winner. In Tennis, there are five sets and there is a tie-breaker”.
India’s former opener Virender Sehwag took a dig at the ICC with his tweets with in one of his Tweet he said, “Batsman ko bhi Timing nahi mili dhang ki, aur ICC ko bhi #WTCFinal” which loosely translates to “neither the batsmen got proper timing nor the ICC”.
Batsman ko bhi Timing nahi mili dhang ki, aur ICC ko bhi#WTCFinal
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) June 21, 2021
In another tweet he wrote, “Mood swing ho gaya, ball nahi huyi. #WTCFinal21” which loosely translates to “I got mood swings but the ball is yet to swing!”
Mood swing ho gaya, ball nahi huyi.#WTCFinal21
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) June 20, 2021
India, in their first innings, were bundled out for 217 and New Zealand were 101 for a loss of 2, still trailing by 116 runs.