The World Test Championships is a professional cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council. It is the summit event of the world for deciding the best test-playing nation.
The World Test Championships are held across a cycle that spans two years. The first edition was held in 2019-21. A league stage is held before the final in each cycle. Teams face each other in a home and away format. These are bilateral series whose fixtures are decided by the national governing bodies of the two test-playing nations.
During the league phase, teams are awarded points based on the results of the matches. A win is worth 12 points, a draw is worth 4 points, and a tie is worth 6 points. No points are reduced for a loss. However, teams may lose points due to slow over-rates. If two teams have the same number of points, then the tiebreaker to decide the better teams is evaluated based on the following factors in ascending order: points percentage in all matches, number of series wins, points percentage in away matches, and ICC rankings of the tied teams before the final.
The final of the World Test Championship is a one-off match as of 2024. Till the 2025-27 cycle, the final will be held at Lord’s. As of 2024, Australia and New Zealand have won one title each. Both teams defeated India in the final to win the title. Joe Root is the leading run-scorer with 5543 runs to his name. Ravichandran Ashwin, Pat Cummins, and Nathan Lyon are the leading wicket-takers having 195 wickets each.
David Warner’s 335* is the highest individual score recorded in the tournament. Kane Williamson’s staggering average of 61.40 is the best among the batters. Among the bowlers, Kyle Mayers has a bowling average of 17.34 in the World Test Championship. Alex Carey has registered a record 151 dismissals among the wicketkeepers.
