On Sunday, the ICC announced that England will host the next three World Test Championship finals scheduled for 2027, 2029 and 2031 - extending the streak of England-based WTC finals to six, since the competition's inception.
The first-ever WTC final was contested by India and New Zealand and Lord's Cricket Ground hosted the match. Kane Williamson-led Kiwis beat the Indians to lift the maiden title.
The following final in 2023 was once played at Lord's and this time it was Australia, who handed India their second consecutive WTC final loss.
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The Australians then aimed to win back-to-back WTC titles in the 2025 edition when they squared off against South Africa at the Home of Cricket for the third consecutive edition. Temba Bavuma's side, however, stunned the mighty Australians and bagged an ICC title for the first time since 1998.
India were hoping to bag the hosting rights of the WTC final at least once in the next three cycles, although BCCI never formally expressed their desire.
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Kevin Pietersen backs England as 'rightful' hosts of next 3 WTC finals
England's legendary batter Kevin Pietersen has now defended ICC's call to hand England the hosting rights, as he called his nation the 'rightful' hosts.
On X, Pietersen wrote: "England is the rightful place to house the next 3 cycles of the World Test Championship Finals. It’s the only country that can guarantee full houses for the first 4 days."
England is the rightful place to house the next 3 cycles of the World Test Championship Finals. It’s the only country that can guarantee full houses for the first 4 days.
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) July 22, 2025
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Why are England the 'rightful' hosts?
The summer crowd in England quite enthusiastically attend Test matches at Lord's irrespective of whether the home team is in action or not.
In fact, Lord's recorded a sizeable amount of crowd in all of the last three WTC finals, even though England never qualified for the matches.