‘WTC Final to be played at Lord’s from June 11-15 next year’

Dubai, Sep 3: The third World Test Championship (WTC) final will be played at the iconic Lord’s between June 11 and 15 next year, announced the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.

The ICC has marked June 16 as the reserve day, if required.

“The ICC World Test Championship Final has quickly become one of the most anticipated events in the cricketing calendar and we are pleased to announce the dates for the 2025 edition,” said ICC CEO Geoff Allardice in a statement.

The Lord’s is hosting the WTC final for the first time as Southampton (2021) and the Oval (2023) were the venues for the two previous title matches.

India featured in those two finals, but lost to New Zealand in the inaugural match and last year they were defeated by Australia.

Currently, Rohit Sharma’s India are sitting in pole position ahead of reigning champions Australia. India will face the Aussies in an away five-match series later this year in the race to the WTC Final.

However, New Zealand (third), England (fourth), Sri Lanka (fifth), South Africa (sixth) and Bangladesh (seventh) are still in contention for a place in the one-off decider next year.

However, Pakistan suffered a huge setback as Bangladesh inflicted a 0-2 defeat on them in the just-concluded two-match home series.