International Cricket Council (ICC) has proposed an international tournament for Test Cricket, which is known as the father of all formats of Cricket. 11 years ago, in 2010, ICC approved the idea of conducting a championship in the test format. After 11 years in 2021, it is finally concluding on June 18 at Rosebell Stadium Southhampton in England, playing Newzealand and India in the Finals. 
 
Despite being the oldest format of Cricket, no international level tournament had been conducted on this format. Each team will be playing three home and three away series. All teams will not be playing against all participants in the tournament, and each team will play six games with 9 participants, and the top 2 teams to top the points table will play the finals in England.

The tournament was commenced in 2019 August where Australia and England played on the Ashes series and ended its league stage in May  2021 where Srilanka and Bangladesh played.

Point scoring of World Test Championship

ICC decided to distribute the points based on match results, not the series results. The series can be as long as between 2-5 matches without the number of match considerations. This would split equally in the importance of the series and the matches for a team. 

The match-winning team gets 60 points in 2 match series, 40 in 3 match series, 30 points in 4 match series, and 24 points in the five-match series. 

If the match ends in a tie, the teams get 20 points in 2 match series, 13 in 3 match series, 10 points in 4 match series, and 8 points in the five-match series. 

The teams maintaining slow over-rate deducts the 2 points per over in the total point.

Participants Involved 

India
England
Bangladesh 
Pakistan 
Newzealand
Bangladesh 
Srilanka 
West Indies 
Australia 

Effect of Pandemic on Tournament 

The Coronavirus pandemic put a stop to the tournament just after a couple of months of its commencement. The pandemic affected the tournament from strict bio-bubbles and quarantine to playing in empty stadiums and eventually calling off almost every tour. 

Following WTC matches were affected by the pandemic:
Pakistan V Bangladesh (April 2020)
Bangladesh V Australia (June 2020)
West Indies V South Africa (July 2020)
Bangladesh V Newzealand (August 2020)
South Africa V Australia (March 2021)

The cancelation of the Australia tour of South Africa took away the possibilities of the Kiwis to ensure their position in the finals.

Initially, the start date of the tournament was set in 2013. Then, in 2017, but it was postponed to 2019 due to some internal state affairs. Some Emerging talents were found, and records were made in this tournament. Aussie batsman David Warner's triple ton in Adelaide and India's win in Gabba Brisbane breaking the 27-year long streak of Australia in that stadium were some unforgettable memories to cherish for cricket fans. Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson both will be in tough competition to lift their maiden ICC major trophy and a prize of 1M $.

Despite the various challenges politically and physically between 6 presidents terms and lots of fields and paperwork, the tournament finally came to an end after 11 years of its design and two years of its commencement. Some unforeseen circumstances forced the organizers to change the venue of the finals from the Lords to the Southampton stadium. This tournament showed us the importance of multi-day tests.

In the upcoming seasons of WTC, there might be some changes in rules and format, and we can hope the better enjoyment of classic test cricket in the imminent future.