The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 cycle witnessed two years of enthralling cricket motion amongst 9 Test cricket-playing nations. As many as 57 out of 69 Tests produced outcomes and solely 12 matches resulted in attracts, proving that ICC’s concept of including context to the longest format with the World Test Championship turned out to be a masterstroke.

The Ultimate Test

Australia obtained their arms on the WTC Trophy by getting the higher of India within the WTC 2021-23 last, also referred to as the Ultimate Test.

Led by Travis Head’s 163 and Steve Smith’s 121, Australia posted 469 of their first innings and managed to bowl out India for 296. Australia declared their second innings at 270/8 and dismissed India for 234, courtesy of three-wicket hauls every from Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland. Australia gained by 209 runs to win their ninth ICC trophy.

The victory made Australia the only group with every main ICC trophy of their cupboard: 5 ODI World Cups (now six), two ODI Champions Trophies, one T20 World Cup and the World Test Championship.

WTC 2021-23 factors desk

At the tip of the championship cycle, the groups’ standings noticed Australia atop the WTC factors desk with 152 factors and a 66.67% factors share, adopted by India with 127 factors and a 58.8% share – the 2 groups with the best share of wins certified for the ultimate.

South Africa (55.56%), England (46.97%), Sri Lanka (44.44%), New Zealand (38.46%), Pakistan (38.10%), West Indies (34.62%) and Bangladesh (11.11%) completed the 2021-23 WTC cycle in respective order.

The arrival of Bazball

England’s aggressive play introducing the ‘Bazball’ fashion to Test cricket took the world by storm. Captain Ben Stokes was on the forefront of the ‘Bazball’ technique, putting 28 sixes within the two-year cycle from 32 innings.

During the Rawalpindi Test in December 2022, England achieved their highest group whole of 657 runs towards Pakistan in solely 101 overs at a run price of 6.50 per over. This match witnessed a staggering whole of 1,768 runs, setting a brand new document for the best mixed runs scored in a five-day Test.

In distinction, Bangladesh had been bundled out for 53 by South Africa at Durban in March 2022 – the bottom whole within the championship cycle.

Top run-scorers

England’s Joe Root emerged because the main run-scorer with 1,915 runs at a median of 53.19, boasting eight centuries from 22 matches. Australia’s Usman Khawaja (1621 runs) and Marnus Labuschagne (1576) got here second and third.

Top wicket-takers

In bowling, Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon topped the charts with 83 wickets, adopted by Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) with 67 wickets and Ravichandran Ashwin (India) with 61 wickets.

The championship additionally witnessed 85 five-wicket hauls (per innings) and ten 10-wicket hauls (per match) by bowlers.

Notable victories

Notable victories included New Zealand’s win by an innings and 276 runs over South Africa in February 2022 at Christchurch. West Indies’ one-wicket victory towards Pakistan at Kingston in August 2021 was the narrowest margin of victory.

Individual brilliance

Inaugural champions New Zealand had a poor present within the 2021-23 cycle however Kiwis did produce some noteworthy particular person performances. Tom Latham’s 252 towards Bangladesh stood out as the highest rating whereas Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls stitched the best partnership of 363 runs towards Sri Lanka. Ajaz Patel’s exceptional 10-wicket haul for New Zealand towards India at Mumbai set data for one of the best innings and match figures within the championship cycle.

In the Test match towards Sri Lanka at Mohali in March 2022, India’s Ravindra Jadeja achieved a novel feat as the only participant to each rating a century and declare a five-wicket haul. He crafted an unbeaten 175 with the bat and in addition bagged 5 wickets for 41 runs in the identical match.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (1527), who performed simply 14 matches, was the fourth highest run-scorer. His better of 196 got here within the second innings towards Australia and helped his group save the Karachi Test.

The ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 showcased exceptional cricketing moments which culminated with an thrilling last between Australia and India at The Oval, England.