Oil Protest Threat Forces ICC To Have Two Pitches For WTC Final

The International Cricket Council (ICC) have prepared two pitches for World Test Championship Final between India and Australia following a threat from oil protesters who threatened to vandalize the pitch and ground during the match. Keeping the threat in mind the security has been increased at the Kennington Oval cricket ground. The ICC have also made changes in their section 6.4 of the Playing Condition rule making an alternative pitch as per the ICC source.

If the pitch gets hampered then they will assess the pitch and see whether it is in good condition to play or not if yes they will continue playing on the same and if not then they will look at the other pitch condition and take a call on whether they can play on the other one or not.

Both the captains Rohit Sharma and Pat Cummins have been taken into confidence. If both agree to play after the pitch gets damaged then they will continue and if not then the match could get called off or abandoned. Certain sections will play a crucial role depending on the circumstances that unfold during the WTC 2023 final.

First of all, if the on-field umpires determine that it is unsafe or unreasonable to continue playing on the match pitch, they shall halt the game and immediately inform the ICC match referee under 6.4.1.

Under 6.4.4, if the decision is to not resume the play, the on-field umpires will assess whether the existing pitch can be repaired and the match can resume from the point it was stopped in consultation with the ICC match referee. The ICC match referee must consider whether this repair would unfairly advantage either side or not, given the play that had already taken place on the dangerous pitch.

Under 6.4.7, throughout the decision-making processes that are mentioned above, the ICC match referee will keep both captains and the head of the ground authority informed about the situation. The head of the ground authority will ensure appropriate public announcements are made timely.

The WTC final will begin at 3 pm IST from June 7 till June 11 at the Oval, London, a reserve day is also in place if the weather intervenes to spoil the sport.

India's squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).

Suryakumar Yadav, Mukesh Kumar and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been named as stand-by players for the high-stakes match.

Australia squad for WTC final: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David WarnerStandby players: Mitch Marsh, and Matthew Renshaw.

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