Lord's Cricket Ground will face a revenue deficit of close to £4 million (over INR 45 crore) for the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) Final because of India's absence from the high-profile encounter. Defending champions Australia will play South Africa in the high-stakes Test, which is scheduled to begin on June 11.
According to a report by The Times, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), owners of Lord's, had priced tickets at top rates initially in anticipation of India's involvement in the final.
Rohit Sharma's side was a top favourite at the beginning of the 2023/24 Test season, where they played a combined ten games—five at home against Bangladesh and New Zealand and then a five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia.
India had begun this stage at the top of the WTC table and needed five victories to qualify for the final. As their strong home record, particularly against New Zealand and Bangladesh, was so impressive, everyone expected them to qualify for the third successive WTC Final. The cricketing world was left stunned when India were convincingly whitewashed by 3-0 against New Zealand. Their aspirations were also crushed after a 3-1 series loss in Australia, eventually resulting in their inability to qualify for the final for the first time in WTC history.
Realizing the effect of India's non-appearance, the MCC chose to reduce the ticket prices in order to guarantee increased attendance instead of facing an almost vacant stadium with high-priced seating. More importantly, according to reports, MCC members who had already bought tickets prior to the price reduction have been refunded the difference.
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