SPORTS

With India and Australia set to face off in the ICC World Test Championship Final 2023 next month, the International Cricket Council announced on Friday that the winner of the competition will take home a prize fund of $1.6 million (approximately ₹13.21 crore).

The ICC informed on Friday that the big prize money will be the major incentive for both teams other than the crowning glory in the longest format of the game. The losing finalists will pocket $800,000 (₹ 6.50 crore). The championship decider will be played at The Oval, London, from June 7 to June 11, with June 12 as the reserve day.

The Chennai leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 playoffs came to an end with Mumbai Indians (MI) securing a berth in the second qualifier by defeating Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). The action will now move to Ahmedabad, which will host the second qualifier, on May 26, and the final, on May 28.

As the teams, commentators and officials left Chennai, Harsha Bhogle raised eyebrows with his tweet. While he hailed the polite and welcoming Chennai crowd, Bhogle didn't seem to be impressed with fans at some other venues.

Whenever MS Dhoni plays at Chepauk there is a roar from the fans every time he's shown by the cameraman and when he walks out to bat for the Chennai Super Kings. Recently, the DJ at the MA Chidambaram Stadium played Rajnikanth's Kabali track 'Neruppu Da' when MSD walked in to bat against the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023 Qualifier 1. 

The crowd went crazy as Dhoni entered the pitch all padded up and ready to smash some maximums when CSK had 12 balls in the first innings. Singer-director of the song, Arunraja Kamaraj, who sung Neruppu Da, could not keep calm after he saw the video and reacted to the video of MSD walking into the stadium on his track.

The first batch of Indian players, along with the support staff, left for London in the early hours of Tuesday for the World Test Championship final against Australia, set to be played from June 7-11 at The Oval.

The London-bound Indian team is to leave in batches and the congregation of the full squad for the WTC final will happen only by May 30, after the final of the IPL 2023 on May 28.

With their teams out of reckoning for the IPL play-offs, players like Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur are part of the first batch. Seniors Virat Kohli and R Ashwin, whose teams Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals are also out of the IPL, will be leaving later, most probably on May 24.

Virat Kohli will be among the first batch of India players to leave for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia in London, departing in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate Mohammad Siraj will also board the same flight, a day after their team was knocked out of the IPL. Spinners R Ashwin and Axar Patel, and all-rounder Shardul Thakur, will also be on the flight as well as the team's support staff led by Rahul Dravid.

The two other players who complete the first list of seven cricketers are Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Umesh Yadav and Lucknow Super Giants' Jaydev Unadkat, who is recovering from a shoulder injury. The final will be played at the Oval from June 7-11.