The International Cricket Council CEO Geoff Allardice has announced that the winner of the World Test Championship will receive a whopping amount of US $1.6 million as prize money whereas the runners-up will get a huge sum of $800,000. The prize money will be split between the teams in case of a draw.
India and New Zealand will lock horns against each other in the World Test Championship final at Ageas Bowl, Southampton from June 18. New Zealand is currently the number one ranked Test teams whereas India is placed at the second rank.
India had won 12 out of the 17 matches they played in the World Test Championship cycle as they finished at the summit of the points table with a winning percentage of 72.2. On the other hand, the Kiwis won seven matches in the WTC cycle and finished at second place with a win percentage of 70.
ICC had earlier revealed the playing conditions for the World Test Championship final. The final will be played with the Duke ball and an extra reserve day is also kept if one of the days get washed due to rain. If the final ends in the draw, the trophy will be shared between the two teams.
Meanwhile, a lot of cricket pundits feel that New Zealand will enter the contest as favorites as they played two Test matches against England. The Kiwis dominated the first Test match but it ended in a draw as the third day was washed out due to rain. However, the visitors continued their domination in the second Test match as they won by eight wickets despite making six changes to their final XI.
On the other hand, the Indian team will need to hit the ground running. The Virat Kohli-led team have played an intra-squad match to get used to the conditions.
