ICC World Test Championship: 2021-23 WTC Betting Guide
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is the grandest prize for the game’s longest format. The World Test Championship was introduced with the goal that each Test-playing nation had an ultimate trophy to play for as they competed in bilateral series.
New Zealand are the defending champions as they defeated India in the WTC final to become the winners of the tournament’s very first edition. The 2021-23 WTC edition’s final will be played at Lord’s in June 2023 as confirmed by the ICC.
The limited-overs formats have garnered more interest and have had a larger market outreach as compared to test cricket. Hence, the ICC proactively came up with a championship to give the game’s oldest form a perspective and a new lease of life with the World Test Championship.
If you are a purist of the game then Test cricket will still be your first love. Let’s have a look at the ICC WTC betting odds, sites, WTC points table, and much more.
Best ICC World Test Championship Betting Sites
India favorites to win 2021-23 ICC World Test Championship
Despite losing to New Zealand in the final, India are the favorites to win the 2021-23 WTC edition. The Indian team has been consistently performing with many of their young stars standing up to be counted on frequent occasions.
This is why we think India will be the favorites to win the tournament’s second edition. India has developed a congenial never-seen-before fighting spirit and the team has a good mix of seasoned batsmen and bowlers.
World Test Championship 2021-23 Points System
There’s no major difference in the way the World Test Championship is played as it is essentially a point-based system to evaluate the team while they go about playing their bilateral Test series. It is played in cycles of two years with a champion at the end of the two-year period.
The competition will take place over the course of two years. Each country will face six different opponents out of which three will be at home and three will be away.
Two to five Test matches will make up each series. As a result, instead of playing the same number of Tests, all teams will play the same number of series.
The ICC has changed the points system for WTC 2021-23. The teams will be ranked on the percentage of points won. Here is the updated points system:
| Result | Points Available Per Match | Percentage of Points |
| Win | 12 | 100 |
| Tie | 6 | 50 |
| Draw | 4 | 33.33 |
| Loss | 0 | 0 |
Points Available Per Series
| Matches in Series | Total Points Available |
| 2 | 24 |
| 3 | 36 |
| 4 | 48 |
| 5 | 60 |
World Test Championship 2021-23 Fixtures
The 2021-23 World Test Championship is underway. Each member nation will play three series at home and three away series.
| Member | Home | Away |
| Australia | ENG, SA, WI | IND, PAK, SL |
| Bangladesh | PAK, IND, SL | SA, NZ, WI |
| England | IND, SA, NZ | PAK, WI, AUS |
| India | SL, NZ, AUS | BAN, ENG, SA |
| New Zealand | SA, BAN, SL | ENG, PAK, IND |
| Pakistan | AUS, ENG, NZ | SL, BAN, WI |
| South Africa | IND, WI, BAN | AUS, ENG, NZ |
| Sri Lanka | WI, AUS, PAK | BAN, NZ, IND |
| West Indies | PAK, BAN, ENG | AUS, SA, SL |
World Test Championship (wtc) Points Table 2021-23
| POSITION | TEAM | MATCHES | WON | LOST | DRAWN | POINTS |
| 1 | AUSTRALIA | 15 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 136 |
| 2 | INDIA | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 99 |
| 3 | SRI LANKA | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 64 |
| 4 | SOUTH AFRICA | 13 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 76 |
| 5 | ENGLAND | 22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 124 |
| 6 | WEST INDIES | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 54 |
| 7 | PAKISTAN | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 64 |
| 8 | NEW ZEALAND | 11 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 36 |
| 9 | BANGLADESH | 12 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 16 |
BETTING on the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23
All this makes it an exciting prospect for the fans, viewers, and bettors who try to assess the game beforehand as the oddsmakers come up with the odds predicting the best team to win in that situation.
Online cricket betting in Test matches raises the stakes higher as there are more elements at play as compared to T20s and 50-over games. If you want to place bets on the World Test Championship, you must first create an account on a betting site.
Before you go on to do that, we advise you to check out our comparison of the best betting sites in India.
Origins of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC)
The concept of an ICC tournament consisting of Test matches was first proposed in the year 2009 to give the format a new direction. Following this, many ICC and respective cricket board executives gave suggestions as to how to go about this tournament.
In July 2010, a four-team tournament was suggested by ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat where the top-4 ranked teams will play a quadrennial event involving semis and finals so that interest can be revived in the longest format of the game.
A proposal for a full Test championship tournament was approved with the ten Test nations playing a round-robin league stage to be held across four years from 2013-2017 with the top-4 teams playing off to be in the final to determine the champions of Test cricket.
This tournament, which was supposed to replace the 2013 Champions Trophy, was canceled and it was then decided that the 50-over mega event will go through in England where the Test championship tournament was supposed to be held.
Future WTC Editions
Finally, the WTC in its current form kick-started in 2019 with the iconic Ashes series in England in August. The WTC also saw jersey numbers on the players’ whites, an initiative that was well received by the cricketing fraternity and added a lot more energy and excitement on the field for the viewers.
The future holds bright for the World Test Championship as ICC has already decided the finals of the WTC to be held in the years 2023, 2025, 2027, 2029, and 2031.
Toss Factor While Placing Your Bet
In many Test venues, toss became a huge point in deciding the outcome of the match. Depending on the conditions of the pitch and weather, winning the coin toss gives a huge advantage to the team.
On batting-friendly tracks in Asia and Australia, winning the toss and bat first becomes highly advantageous especially when the older ball will spin and can potentially reverse.
Conversely, if the conditions are overcast and seam and swing friendly like in England, South Africa, or New Zealand then bowling first can be a viable option to put the batting opposition under pressure early.
In such a scenario where the match is being played in bowler-friendly conditions, it is wise for a cricket bettor to go with the away team if the odds do not favor a good return for you. If your team wins the toss then you would be in a good position to capitalize on the conditions.
ICC World Test Championship Betting FAQs
After choosing the platform, you can create an account and deposit on the betting site with UPI. After that, you can tap on the ‘Cricket’ option on the menu where all the sports are available. You can now see a category for outright bets. Click on that and you will see options to bet on the ICC World Test Championship.
New Zealand defeated India to lift the WTC trophy in its very first edition. The 2021 WTC final was played at Rose Bowl, Southampton. New Zealand simply outplayed the Indian team and won by 8 wickets. Marnus Labuschagne finished as the highest run-scorer in WTC 2019-22 with 1675 runs while Ravichandran Ashwin was the highest wicket-taker with 71 wickets.
