New Delhi: The ICC announced Friday the playing conditions for India versus New Zealand World Test Championship (WTC) final, which is set to be played June 18 to June 22 in Southampton. The Indian players selected for the game are already undergoing quarantine in Mumbai. The team are scheduled to leave June 2 for England where they will have to undergo another three days of hard quarantine before they start training. Head coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli were the last to enter the bubble in Mumbai a couple of days back.
The ICC has said that if the WTC game ends in a draw or a tie both teams will be declared ‘joint winners’. The ICC has also kept June 23 as a ‘Reserve Day’ in case if there is any loss in play time due to inclement weather.
In the event of time being lost during the match, the ICC Match Referee will regularly update the teams and media about the way in which the ‘Reserve Day’ may be used. The final decision on whether the Reserve Day needs to be used will be announced at the scheduled start of the last hour on the fifth day.
The other playing conditions are:
The match will be played using Grade 1 Dukes cricket balls.
The final will also see the implementation of the following changes to international playing conditions that came into effect with the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka:
Short Runs – The Third Umpire will automatically review any call of a ‘short run’ by the On-field Umpire and communicate the decision to the On-field Umpire prior to the next ball being bowled.
Player Reviews – The fielding captain or the dismissed batsman may confirm with the Umpire whether a genuine attempt has been made to play the ball prior to deciding whether to initiate a player review for LBW.
DRS Reviews – For LBW reviews, the height margin of the Wicket Zone has been lifted to the top of the stumps to ensure the same Umpire’s Call margin around the stumps for both height and width.