World Test Championship final postponed, to be played from June 18-22

New Delhi: The start of the inaugural World Test Championship final has been pushed back by eight days and will now begin at Lord’s on June 18, keeping in mind the proximity with the next IPL’s summit showdown.

The final of the inaugural championship was tentatively scheduled to begin on June 10 at the iconic venue in London.

However, since the Indian Premier League final is also expected to be played around the same dates, it could have complicated the quarantine schedule of the participating players.

“The WTC Final will now be played from June 18-22 and June 23 will be the reserve day. As background we pushed it back to allow for any quarantine that may be imposed, particularly given the close proximity to the end of the IPL and the original dates) so driven by quarantine,” a BCCI source told PTI.

There is a close fight between India, Australia and New Zealand to compete for the title. India are leading the table with 430 points (PCT 71.7), followed by New Zealand (420, PCT 70) and Australia (332, PCT 69.2).

India recently jumped to the top of the table, following their 2-1 win in the four-match series in Australia.