ICC recently introduced World test championship which is one major step towards gaining the aspiring cricketers interest in the looming world where T20 has been the driving force. Be it a cricketer or a spectator, the Interest for Test cricket has considerably gone down. At such juncture, building up a point system for test championship will psychologically build expectation among Audience on who is topping the chart. Yes this definitely plays a factor when one hears a news that X country has gone above the table which makes one feel proud or may be the other way round ,where a country has dropped down the table bringing disappointment for the nation.
The World Test Cricket Championship has started from July’19 and will run until June’21. The top 2 teams in the point table will take on each other in June’21 for the supreme recognition that hasn’t happened in the past century. Now let’s see how this point system works.
How Does Point System Works?
Each Test playing nation will be playing 6 series during the Test Championship period. Each series counts for 120 points. So a team will have max 720 up for grab. But how does the point system work? Some must be wondering if this brings in the calculation of being home team or away team where away team winning the game has advantage over points gained. Or may be some calculation similar to algorithm/logic used with Duckworth Lewis method. Or may be the the top ranking team defeating a low ranking team doesn’t make too much of a difference. So does this awarding of point works on the strength of the team? NO, the system has no complications and ICC has made it as simple as it can be.
A bilateral test series will count for 120 points irrespective of the fact whether it’s 2 match series or a 5 match series. If it’s a 2 match series, then 120 points will be divided by 2. As such, any side winning a test match will get 60 points. On the other, if it’s a 5 match series, winning a match will gain 24 points for a team. Rather than complicating stuff by such permutation and combination, let’s draw a table for all scenarios.
| 2 Match Series | 2 Match Series | 4 Match Series | 5 Match Series | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 60 | 40 | 30 | 24 |
| Draw | 20 | 13.33 | 10 | 8 |
| Tie | 30 | 20 | 15 | 12 |
Isn’t that so simple. It doesn’t matter who you are playing against, you get the points as in the above table. But I personally feel that playing shorter series is more of an advantage than a longer series with 5 matches. Nevertheless the point system in place has started it’s journey and at the time of writing this article, India stands at the top of the table with one win in a 2 match series at 60 points.
What If Team Are On Par For Top Spot?
But what if the 2 team stand at equal points at the end of the championship round to qualify for Championship title playoffs. In such case, team winning the highest series during the period will gain the place. Some might ask, what if both team have equal series wins which can be very obvious knowing each team plays 6 series. In such scenario, team with higher runs per wicket ratio shall be ranked higher.
So stay glued to the points table and support your nation.