ICC World Test Championship final: How Australia has slim chance to qualify courtesy India

The ICC World Test Championship is quickly approaching its final that is slated to be played at the 'Mecca of Cricket' Lord's from June 18 to 22 with June 23 acting as a reserve day. New Zealand recently became the first team to qualify for the WTC final and now it remains to be seen who among India, Australia and England join the Kiwis in the maiden final of the championship. While India and England's fates remain in their own hands, Australia will have to be dependent on the result of the India vs England series after their tour to South Africa was postponed due to the COVID-19 situation in the country.

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How can Australia qualify for the WTC final at Lord's?

Cricket Australia on Tuesday released a statement mentioning that travelling from Australia to South Africa in the current situation was an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to their players, support staff, and the community. South Africa has seen a rise in COVID-19 cases, including a second wave and the emergence of a new strain of the virus. 

The statement also acknowledged the significant amount of work by CSA in planning for the tour and revealed that Cricket Australia were prepared to take on additional cost and effort to make the series happen. The release also mentioned that the board was extremely disappointed to have arrived at the decision, especially given the importance of continuing international cricket at this time, our valued relationship with Cricket South Africa (CSA).

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So, the question is how can Australia qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final at Lord's? While Tim Paine and co. seem to barely have a chance of qualifying, they can still have a slight hope if India manages to beat England in the 4-match series 1-0. However, Australia could also have to support England since they can be through if their Ashes rival manage to beat India or even draw the series by a 1-1 or 2-2 scoreline.

On the other hand, England have a rather improbable task at hand as they need to beat India 3-0, 3-1 or 4-0 to qualify for the WTC final and a drawn series or even a 2-1 result would not suffice. As far as India are concerned, the Virat Kohli-led side will have to win at least two Tests against England without losing the other two matches. 

Meanwhile, the India vs England Test series is set to commence on Friday, February 5 in Chennai. The second match will be played at the same venue from February 13-17. The final two Tests will be played at the newly constructed Sardar Patel Stadium (the biggest cricket stadium in the world) from February 24-28 and March 4-8. According to the India vs England schedule, all five T20Is will be played in Ahmedabad on March 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20. On the other hand, the three ODIs will be played in Pune on March 23, 26 and 28.

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India squad for England Tests 2021: Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain), Rishabh Pant (Wicket-keeper), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Hardik, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur

England squad for India Tests 2021 (first 2 Tests): Joe Root (Captain), Ben Stokes (Vice-captain), Jos Buttler (Wicket-keeper), Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, James Anderson, Dom Bess, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Dom Sibley, Jack Leach

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SOURCE: CRICKET.COM.AU