THE ULTIMATE TEST
Ranjan Mellawa previews the
World Test Championship 2023
India and England kicked off the second edition of the World Test Championship (WTC 2023) in August with a five match series hosted by the latter. However, since the virus busted India’s bubble, only four games were played and both boards have reportedly agreed to play the final Test in 2022.
The others in the fray to win WTC 2023 are defending champions New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the ICC’s revamped standardised marking system for awards is 12 points for a win, four for a draw and six for a tie. Similar to the inaugural championship, the percentage of points won will determine standings in this cycle.
Earlier, each series was worth 120 points and that led to a lopsided table as a one Test winner in a two match series earned 60 points whereas the same outcome for a five game series earned only 24 points!
The new points system makes for a fair comparison of the relative performance of teams at any point in time. Furthermore, it means that the cancellation of matches or series for any reason doesn’t directly impact the teams’ standing, which rectifies the previous anomaly due to the number of games played by the nine countries.
While all nations may not play the same number of matches, each will play six series – three at home and three away, similar to the previous edition. Apart from the England- India series, Australia vs England (the Ashes) is the only five match series in the current WTC cycle. The others consist of two or three Tests each, save for Australia vs India with four.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka stirred happy memories of their past glory as a top cricketing nation at the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Former coach Mickey Arthur’s passionate backing of promising youngsters together with a greater emphasis on fitness and fielding appear to have paid rich dividends.
The team won all three matches in the group stage and registered wins over both Bangladesh and the West Indies in the Super 12s. Nevertheless, close losses to South Africa and England denied them a place in the semis.
Delightfully, the Sri Lankans carried their T20 form into the longest format and entered the WTC arena with a resounding 2-0 series win over the Windies. At the time of writing, Sri Lanka heads the WTC table with a one hundred percent record.
Dimuth Karunaratne, presently the envy among top Test openers internationally, continued in his rich vein of form during the series by leading from the front. Young Pathum Nissanka ably supported him with three well-compiled half-centuries while Dhananjaya de Silva produced an outstanding knock (155*) on a difficult Galle pitch.
The spinning trio was no less impressive with Player of the Series off spinner Ramesh Mendis who picked up 18 wickets from the two matches in his first full Test series. Left-arm bowlers Lasith Embuldeniya and Praveen Jayawickrama also displayed their potential to fill the big boots of Rangana Herath in the years to come.
Included in the bowling arsenal were Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara’s extreme pace that troubled the best of the top order, splendidly supplementing seam spearhead Suranga Lakmal.
The form of Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal is cause for concern. And due to Mathews’ recurring hamstring-calf issues, Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella could well be the backups to replace the two seniors when their suspension ends in mid-2022.
In spite of the upcoming overhaul of the coaching setup, if Sri Lanka can sustain their competitiveness and build on what is a promising start, they may justify an outside chance of finishing in the top two.