World Test Championship final to go ahead as planned: ICC after Britain adds India to travel ‘red list’

The International Cricket Council on Monday said the World Test Championship final, to be contested between India and New Zealand in Southampton from June 18, will go ahead as planned after Britain added India to travel "red list" after COVID-19 caseload surge.

India entering the "red list" effectively bans all travel from the country and makes a 10-day hotel quarantine compulsory for UK residents arriving back home.

However, the ICC expressed confidence in staging the WTC final in a bio-secure environment.

"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 that the WTC Final will go ahead as planned in June in the UK," said the ICC in a statement.

"We are currently discussing with the UK Government the impact of countries being on the red list'," it added.

The Indian women's cricket team is also scheduled to tour UK in June. The men's team is also to play five Tests in England starting August 4.

India has reported 2,73,810 new positive cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day surge, taking the country's COVID-19 caseload past the 1.5 crore mark.