IND vs AUS : What happens if Test Championship Final 2023 ends in a draw? Is there a reserve day? 

IND vs AUS (Source: Twitter)

The two powerhouses of world cricket, India and Australia, will square off in the second edition of the Test Championship (WTC) Final from June 7 at The Oval in London. India will aim to win the title after losing the 2021 final to New Zealand by 8 wickets, while Australia will be looking to avenge their Border Gavaskar Trophy defeat and win their maiden championship in the 2021-23 cycle.

Rain played spoilsport in the final of the 2019–21 WTC cycle, forcing the game to enter reserve day to decide the winners. This year, too, the Cricket Governing Body has set aside a reserve day if rain enters the party on any of the five days of the summit clash. The reserve day will be used if there is a significant loss in net playing time or overs in the first five days of the match. Every Test match has a net playing period of 30 hours, six hours per day, or 90 overs per day.

What if the final ends in a draw?

If the match ends in a draw, the trophy will be shared between the two teams. This means that only a win will allow a team to lay claim to the coveted trophy, and the team that finished higher on the points table will have no advantage going into the finals. Australia took first place in the WTC points standings with a points percentage of 66.67, while India finished on the second place with a points percentage of 58.8.

The Rohit Sharma-led India and Pat Cummins-led Australia are sweating hard in the nets in London ahead of the marquee clash. Indian players will come into the game after playing two months of Indian Premier League (IPL), while most Australian players avoided the T20 tournament and will enter the WTC final with proper rest and training.

Squads for Test Championship 2023 Final

India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Steven Smith (VC), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.