The final of the ICC World Test Championship in Southampton is off to an inauspicious start with the rain delaying the toss and washing out the opening session’s play on Thursday. There’s forecast of rain through the day and it’s been pouring down in Southampton since last night.
It had been drizzling since morning at the Hampshire Bowl with pitch placed under covers. The official inspected the conditions minutes before the scheduled toss and deemed they weren’t fit for the play to start.
However, the International Cricket Council has made a provision for an extra day to make up for the lost time during the regular five days of the Test, if needed. June 23 will be an extra day.
In case of a draw or a tie, both the teams will be declared as the joint winners.
India and New Zealand are set to compete for the title of the inaugural ICC World Test champions having gone through a two-year cycle to beat other teams for a chance to compete for the trophy.
New Zealand, the top-ranked Test team currently in the world, were the first to qualify while India beat England in a four-match series earlier this year to make the final.
India announced their playing 11 on the eve of the Test but New Zealand have delayed the call saying a final decision will be made once they have taken another look at the playing conditions.
India’s Playing 11: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
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