Latest news with #WTC2025
News18
11 hours ago
- Sport
- News18
Why India And England Players Are Wearing Black Armbands On Day 1 Of 1st Test?
Last Updated: India and England players are wearing black armbands on Day 1 of the first Test which is taking place at Headingley in Leeds. India and England players are wearing black armbands in memory of the victims of the Ahmedabad plane attack on Day 1 of the first Test, which is taking place at Headingley in Leeds. More than 250 people lost their lives when an aeroplane crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. 'Both teams will wear black armbands today as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in the Air India plane crash. Out thoughts are with all those affected by the terrible events that took place in Ahmedabad last week," England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) tweeted on Friday. — BCCI (@BCCI) June 20, 2025 Both teams will wear black armbands today as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in the Air India plane thoughts are with all those affected by the terrible events that took place in Ahmedabad last week 🖤 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 20, 2025 Indian players and members of the support staff wore black armbands before the start of the intra-squad match last week, and on Day 3 of the WTC 2025 final, Australian and South African players also wore black armbands in memory of the victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash. In the first Test of the five-match series, India will bat first. England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss on Friday and invited India to bat first in Shubman Gill's first Test as India captain. Tamil Nadu batter B Sai Sudharsan is making his Test debut for India at Headingley, and the 23-year-old cricketer will bat at No. 3. Gill will come out at No. 4, and he will be followed by Rishabh Pant and Karun Nair. Nair, who has a triple century to his name in Test cricket, last played a Test match for India in 2017. Ravindra Jadeja is the lone spinner in India's playing XI, and Shardul Thakur has been preferred over Nitish Kumar Reddy for the fast-bowling all-rounder's role. Shardul, who last played a Test match for India in December 2023 against South Africa in Centurion, scored 122 runs in the intra-squad match. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna are the three fast bowlers for India in Leeds. Playing XIs India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna First Published:
India Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- India Today
WTC 2025-27: Australia play most Tests, Sri Lanka least
The new cycle of the World Test Championship has already begun, just days after South Africa were crowned as the champions of the third edition of the tournament. South Africa's win was seen as a story of incredible grit and perseverance, given they had given up hope on the competition midway through the by Aiden Markram's sensational 4th innings hundred and two gritty knocks from captain Temba Bavuma, South Africa beat the mighty Australians, who were favourites to clinch the victory was seen as refreshing from a neutral perspective, as fans saw the result as a win for Test cricket, as the South African team came together for a sensational run in the red-ball format, eventually breaking their 27-year wait for an ICC title. However, there was one thing that laser-eyed fans could not ignore. It was the number of Test matches that South Africa played in their WTC Africa reached the summit clash of the WTC 2025 by playing just 12 Test matches. This was the lowest among all teams in the tournament. In comparison, England played 22, Australia and India 19, and New Zealand and Pakistan did not sit well with many fans that South Africa did not play Australia and England en route to the finals and only played 2 matches at home against India. The argument was that India, Australia, and England play 5 matches against each other, meaning that they compete against tougher opposition more that note, here's the complete breakdown of matches that teams will be playing in the WTC cycle. It needs to be noted that these fixtures were already agreed in advance with the FTP — ICC's Future Tours Tests by TeamAustralia – 22England – 21India – 18New Zealand – 16South Africa – 14West Indies – 14Pakistan – 13Bangladesh – 12Sri Lanka – 12Home Tests by TeamAustralia – 11England – 11India – 9South Africa – 8New Zealand – 7Bangladesh – 6Sri Lanka – 6West Indies – 7Pakistan – 6Away Tests by TeamAustralia – 11England – 10India – 9New Zealand – 9West Indies – 7Pakistan – 7South Africa – 6Bangladesh – 6Sri Lanka – 6WTC 2025–27: Complete Breakdown of SeriesAustralia – Total Tests: 22Home:vs ENG – 5vs BAN – 2vs NZ – 4Away:vs WI – 3vs SA – 3vs IND – 5Bangladesh – Total Tests: 12Home:vs PAK – 2vs WI – 2vs ENG – 2Away:vs SL – 2vs AUS – 2vs SA – 2England – Total Tests: 21Home:vs IND – 5vs NZ – 3vs PAK – 3Away:vs AUS – 5vs SA – 3vs BAN – 2India – Total Tests: 18Home:vs WI – 2vs SA – 2vs AUS – 5advertisementAway:vs ENG – 5vs SL – 2vs NZ – 2New Zealand – Total Tests: 16Home:vs WI – 3vs IND – 2vs SL – 2Away:vs ENG – 3vs AUS – 4vs PAK – 2Pakistan – Total Tests: 13Home:vs SA – 2vs SL – 2vs NZ – 2Away:vs BAN – 2vs WI – 2vs ENG – 3South Africa – Total Tests: 14Home:vs AUS – 3vs BAN – 2vs ENG – 3Away:vs PAK – 2vs IND – 2vs SL – 2Sri Lanka – Total Tests: 12Home:vs BAN – 2vs IND – 2vs SA – 2Away:vs WI – 2vs PAK – 2vs NZ – 2West Indies – Total Tests: 14Home:vs AUS – 3vs SL – 2vs PAK – 2Away:vs IND – 2vs NZ – 3vs BAN – 2Must Watch
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First Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- First Post
AB de Villiers calls for changes in WTC format despite South Africa's historic win at Lord's: 'Something needs to be done'
Former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers exposes the flaws in the current World Test Championship format and shared ideas on how the ICC can fix it. Will ICC pay heed to him? read more Former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers wants changes in the World Test Championship (WTC) format to make it fair for all teams. South Africa recently won the WTC 2025 final at the Lord's with De Villiers in attendance. This was South Africa's second ICC title win and first-ever world trophy, but critics have questioned them playing fewer matches against the top teams in the 2023-25 cycle as compared to the losing finalist, Australia. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD AB de Villiers calls for changes in WTC format Reacting to the historic WTC final win, De Villiers said that it will instill a newfound belief in the South African cricket team, but also added that changes are required in the WTC format. 'We've had some very disappointing and sad ends to a lot of campaigns, especially the World Cups, but now it's time to start believing that we can do this more often,' he told BBC World Service's Stumped podcast. More from First Cricket '[This moment] won't be lost. It was too big and too special for all South Africans – it was a Test match no one will ever forget. But yes, to a certain extent, something needs to be done.' Also Read | Four-day Tests could become a reality in 2027–29 WTC cycle De Villiers suggested that instead of having a two-year WTC cycle, it can be spread over four years, allowing all teams to play against each other and creating a more balanced schedule. 'I saw the schedule that came out for the next cycle of the WTC and there is an improvement, but I still feel there's work that needs to be done there to just to get it as consistent as possible and as fair as possible for all for all Test-playing nations.' Also Read | After years of veering towards gates of cricketing hell, South Africa pitch up in paradise with WTC triumph 'You want to get to that final feeling like you've played against all these nations,' De Villiers added. 'Maybe a four-year cycle would be nice. We've done that in the past with one-day internationals, so why not in Test cricket? It would make sense and it would give the organisers just so much more time to get a really fair, well-balanced system out there.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
India.com
3 days ago
- Sport
- India.com
Mulder reveals Head was shattered after WTC 2025 final defeat, 'you always think about Aussies as being a little bit nasty at times, but...'
Travis Head. New Delhi: After South Africa won the world test championship, Wiaan Mulder talked about his chat with a dejected, yet a polite Travis Head. Mulder, who played number three position on the South African cricket team spoke how Head was ecstatic at the defeat of Australia as well as ecstatic that South Africa had won and it had ended their ICC trophy draught. Mulder negated the image of Australians being aggressive people by putting focus on the correct image of an Australian as a true sport and a champion. 'I actually spoke to him (Head) last night on the phone. He was chuffed for the way it went for us. Obviously he was broken that they didn't win, but I think overall, the spirit of the game was really as high or as good as it could be. You think about the Aussies, you always think about them as being a little bit nasty at times, but I think these guys are true champions,' Mulder told ICC Digital. During IPL 2025, despite limited playing time, Mulder's net sessions against SRH captain Cummins and Head proved beneficial. He found them to be excellent players and credits this experience with contributing to his performance in the WTC 2025 final. 'Heady is one of the top blokes around and Patty is also a great guy. I spent some time with them at the Sunrisers during the IPL and there was a lot of banter. I trained a lot because I didn't play a lot in the IPL and I spent a lot of time facing Pat and facing Heady (in the nets), so there was a lot of banter coming into the WTC,' said the Proteas all-rounder. The 2025 IPL season became short, with Mulder playing one match and not grabbing any wicket and scoring six runs only. He came in as a substitute of the injured Brydon Carse, at a price of 1 crore rupees. During the WTC 2025 final, Wiaan Mulder batted at number three. He failed to score significantly in the first innings, giving up 45 runs while bowling and subsequently dismissed for a low score. In the second innings, he was bowled by Mulder, his SRH teammate. Despite this, he made a valuable contribution of 27 runs from 50 balls, forming a key 61-run partnership with Markram (who scored a century) during the team's pursuit of 282 runs.
Mint
3 days ago
- Sport
- Mint
World Test Championship 2025-27: Full schedule, list of series, fixtures; know details for next WTC cycle
The World Test Championship 2025-27 kickstarted on June 17, with the two-match series between Sri Lanka facing Bangladesh. After South Africa won the WTC 2025 final against Australia, the race to become the best Test team in the next cycle began. The 2025-27 cycle, the fourth edition, includes nine teams - Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and West Indies. Other teams like Afghanistan, Ireland, and Zimbabwe will play Test matches but won't be part of this WTC. Each team will play six series, three at home and three away. Notably, each series has two to five Test matches. Since teams play different numbers of matches, rankings use the percentage of points won (called PCT). The top two teams will meet in the final clash of the WTC in 2027. Nine teams will compete in 27 series over two years. England will play the most matches (21), followed by Australia (20) and India (18). The final is set for 2027, with the location to be announced later. June–August 2025: England vs India - 5 Tests (Away) October 2025: India vs West Indies - 2 Tests (Home) November 2025: India vs South Africa - 2 Tests (Home) August 2026: Sri Lanka vs India - 2 Tests (Away) October 2026: New Zealand vs India - 2 Tests (Away) January 2027: India vs Australia - 5 Tests (Home) June 2025: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh - 2 Tests (Home) June 2026: West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 2 Tests (Away) August 2026: Sri Lanka vs India - 2 Tests (Home) November 2026: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka - 2 Tests (Away) January 2027: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka - 2 Tests (Away) February 2027: Sri Lanka vs South Africa - 2 Tests (Home) June 2025: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh - 2 Tests (Away) March 2026: Bangladesh vs Pakistan - 2 Tests (Home) October 2026: Bangladesh vs West Indies - 2 Tests (Home) November 2026: South Africa vs Bangladesh - 2 Tests (Away) February 2027: Bangladesh vs England - 2 Tests (Home) March 2027: Australia vs Bangladesh - 2 Tests (Away) June 2025: West Indies vs Australia - 2 Tests (Away) November 2025–January 2026: Australia vs England - 5 Tests (Home) September 2026: South Africa vs Australia - 3 Tests (Away) December 2026: Australia vs New Zealand - 3 Tests (Home) January 2027: India vs Australia - 5 Tests (Away) March 2027: Australia vs Bangladesh - 2 Tests (Home) June 2025: West Indies vs Australia - 2 Tests (Home) October 2025: India vs West Indies - 2 Tests (Away) November 2025: New Zealand vs West Indies - 2 Tests (Away) June 2026: West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 2 Tests (Home) July 2026: West Indies vs Pakistan - 2 Tests (Home) October 2026: Bangladesh vs West Indies - 2 Tests (Away) June–August 2025: England vs India - 5 Tests (Home) November 2025–January 2026: Australia vs England - 5 Tests (Away) June 2026: England vs New Zealand - 3 Tests (Home) August 2026: England vs Pakistan - 3 Tests (Home) December 2026: South Africa vs England - 3 Tests (Away) February 2027: Bangladesh vs England - 2 Tests (Away) October 2025: Pakistan vs South Africa - 2 Tests (Away) November 2025: India vs South Africa - 2 Tests (Away) September 2026: South Africa vs Australia - 3 Tests (Home)
