World Test Championship trophy 2025 will be taken back from South Africa, know this rule of ICC

South Africa defeated defending champions Australia by five wickets on the fourth day at Lord's, a historic ground, by Aiden Markram's stunning innings of 136. South Africa has claimed ICC trophy, shattering a 27-year losing streak in the knockout. South Africa reached the target of 282 quite comfortably, losing five wickets. It is for the second time in Lord's ground within the period of last 20 years when a team reached a target of over 200.

Along with this, South Africa also erased the blot of chokers. Aiden Markram was the hero of this game and scored a match-winning innings of 136 runs with 14 fours from 207 deliveries. Markram was awarded the Player of the Match award for this innings. After winning the ICC World Test Championship trophy, tears of joy welled up in the eyes of the former African players along with the South African team and every spectator present in the field. Their happiness was worth seeing and why not? This team has broken the 27-year-old stigma of knockout. But soon, South Africa will have to hand over this trophy back to the ICC.

Actually, as per the rules of the ICC, the trophy given to the winning team after any final match of an ICC event can be kept by that country only for a time. After that it has to hand over that trophy back to the ICC. Then when the next tournament related to that trophy will be held, the same trophy will be given to the new winner. This sequence continues in this way.

Be it the World Test Championship or the ODI World Cup or the T20 World Cup, any ICC trophy has to be handed over to the International Cricket Council by the winning team after a few days. Now the question arises that what do the winning countries get? Before every new tournament, ICC gets a trophy made that looks like the original, which is later handed over to the winning team so that it can share that moment of pride with its sports lovers.

On the other hand, this rule of ICC does not apply to bilateral series. The winning teams of bilateral series or triangular series get only the original trophy and that team can keep it with itself.