Author : A Smith | Created : 2022-08-24 14:46:00
The World Test Championship is in a precarious position after the first two matches of the series were drawn. If it ends as a draw, it will be the first-ever draw in international history and could lead to massive ramifications for cricket. The ICC has already announced that they will not be hosting any more matches at this time due to security concerns, but if another match ends as a draw, fans may stop watching altogether.
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The result of this match matters a great deal to the future of Afghan cricket. If they lose, they could be relegated to associate status and lose their Test, ODI and T20I status. If Afghanistan are relegated, it would be the first relegation since Ireland were demoted in 2007 after losing a Test series against Bangladesh.
Afghanistan have already played five Tests since being awarded full member status in June 2017 - all four Tests against India, who won each by an innings margin; one at home and three away, including one in Bengaluru where Virat Kohli scored his highest ever score in any format (311 off 157 balls). They also got hammered 5-0 by West Indies before their victory over Zimbabwe last month kept them afloat for now.
If the Test Championship is drawn, it will be the first time in history that a Test match has ended in a draw. A Test championship trophy would have been a symbol of cricket's growth and development as a sport, but now there won't be one for at least another five years.
The ICC Cricket World Cup has always been held every four years since its inception in 1975. However, with so many teams competing within multiple divisions and leagues across different continents over the course of ten months every year nowadays - coupled with the fact that hosting countries often struggle financially - pressure was building to move away from having such an expansive tournament every four years. And so it was decided that moving forward there will be two world cups instead: one which will feature all 10 Full Members competing against each other; and another which will include only Associate Member countries playing each other (this second one will also sometimes be referred to as "the World Cup Qualifier").
If the WTC comes in as a draw, it will take years for the ICC to rebuild its reputation. The prospect of India versus Australia being a dead rubber is bad enough for cricket fans; imagine if that same match was played twice on successive days?
The ICC will have to find a way to make Test cricket more exciting and competitive so that no matches are 'dead rubbers'. If there wasn't much at stake, then why would teams bother playing at all? In order to do this, they need to improve their scheduling of Tests so that there's always something to play for when you step out onto the field. They also need a more streamlined process for awarding points across tours so that teams competing in series don't get an advantage over those who aren't (or vice versa).
If this happens, the World Test Championship will be seen as a failure. The International Cricket Council (ICC) will look incompetent at best and greedy and biased at worst. Fans who have spent hundreds of dollars on tickets for each game will feel like they've been ripped off. And the ICC's reputation as being an organization that cares about all forms of cricket, not just T20s and ODIs, will take a massive hit.
The World Test Championship can be ruined if it ends in a draw but there are ways to avoid this. The ICC needs to find a way to make sure that the final is played in front of fans and not just on television screens. There is also the issue with Afghanistan losing their Test status as they have been playing well since they joined the top tier last year so this would affect them greatly as well.