The International Cricket Council (ICC) is confident that the World Test Championship will go ahead as planned in Southampton despite the UK government adding India to its travel 'red list' on Monday.
"We are currently discussing with the UK government the impact of countries being on the red list. The ECB and other members have demonstrated how we can stage international cricket safely in the middle of a pandemic and we are confident that we can continue to do that and the World Test Championship final will go ahead as planned in June in the UK," the ICC said.
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India and New Zealand will face off in the final of the World Test Championship - scheduled to be held from June 18 to 22 in Southampton. But on Tuesday, it was announced that due to a surge in the COVID-19 cases, India will be placed on the red list for travel to the UK - leading to speculations about the future of the World Test Championship.
Even though elite sportsmen and support staff currently have an exemption, it would require them to stay for 10 days in a government-approved quarantine facility upon arrival, with no special permission for training.
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It also puts question mark on India women's team's scheduled tour of England, even though the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials are confident that the tour will go ahead without any hassle. When contacted, sources confirmed that the ECB officials are in conversation with the government on the impact of the countries in the 'red list'. "The ECB officials are in touch with the government and the ICC and they are confident of pulling things off smoothly," the source said.
The ECB had conducted international series' against the West Indies, Pakistan and Australia last year despite the country being in a lockdown.
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