ICC chief Anurag Dahiya Gupta hailed the World Test Championship as a true pinnacle event, noting that a packed Lord’s for the final proved WTC’s growing global appeal.
The ICC has declared that the first three editions of the World Test Championship have strongly established the tournament as the pinnacle event in red-ball cricket. New Zealand, Australia and South Africa have each won one title, while India finished runners-up twice.
ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta pointed to the sold-out final at Lord’s between Australia and South Africa as a strong sign, showing that the tournament now attracts global interest even without Australia or India involved.
“What the World Test Championship final attempts to do, beyond just being a five-plus-one-day event where the two best teams compete for the greatest prize in the format, is to give context to the two years of Test cricket that precedes that final,” Gupta said during the announcement of ICC’s global partnership with AB InBev India.
“That was the endeavour with which the World Test Championship was launched and what we’ve seen with three editions past us now, is that the WTC final has definitely delivered on the goal of providing a pinnacle event for Test cricket. The last World Test Championship final was played between Australia and South Africa in England, and Lord’s was packed,” he added.
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Gupta also noted that the six-month build-up created constant discussion about qualification. This added meaningful context to every bilateral Test in the cycle. He stated that this has helped establish the WTC final as a major event that fans now look forward to.
“India was not playing, England was not playing, (but) Australia was taking on South Africa, and Lord’s was packed, which means that we now have a pinnacle event in Test cricket which the world waits for, or the world that enjoys Test cricket waits for,” he said.
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“The other thing that it did was, in the six months leading up to the WTC final, the entire narrative was around who will feature and that gives additional meaning, context, and significance to the bilateral Test cricket that’s being played in the lead-up to that World Test Championship final,” the ICC CEO concluded.
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