The current season of ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is witnessing interesting matches. Currently, a three-match Test series is going on between England and Sri Lanka. Pakistan is playing two Test matches against Bangladesh at home. The Indian team will also host two Test matches against Bangladesh next month. After Bangladesh, India has to play three Test matches against New Zealand and five Test matches against Australia on their soil.
Will there be an India-Australia final again?
That is, in the current season of WTC, India has to play a total of ten Test matches, which are very important. If India has to reach the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) for the third consecutive time, then they will have to perform brilliantly in these matches. If we look at the latest points table of the World Test Championship, then there are chances of a final match between India and Australia once again. The final match is to be played in June 2025 at the Mecca of cricket, Lord’s.
India is at number one and Australia is at number two in the WTC table. However, it would be a bit early to say which two teams will reach the final because except West Indies, the remaining eight teams are still in the race for the final. If a team finishes its campaign with 60 percent points, then it will have more chances of reaching the final. India had qualified for the final last time with 58.8 percent points. Then in the final match, India had to face defeat by 209 runs at the hands of Australia.
The Indian team is currently at the top with 68.52 percent points. India has 74 points from six wins, two losses and one draw in 9 matches so far. At the same time, the Kangaroo team at number two has 90 points from 8 wins, three losses and one draw in 12 matches. Its point percentage is 62.50. The New Zealand team is at third place in the WTC table. If seen, only 13 out of 27 series have been played so far in the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship. In such a situation, many teams have the opportunity to move up in the points table. Let’s take a look at the current position of all 9 teams…
1. India (68.52 percent): India, which is at the top of the World Test Championship points table, is scheduled to tour Australia for five Test matches in November. Before that tour, it has to play two home Tests against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand. If India wins five and draws one of these 10 Test matches, then India will get 64 points, which will keep them above 60%.
2. Australia (62.50 percent): The Kangaroo team is currently at number two, but their final ranking will largely depend on how they perform against India at home. To finish on more than 60% points, they need 47 points from seven Test matches, which they can achieve with four wins or three wins and three draws. Australia has to play 5 Test matches against India on its home soil, while it has to play two Test matches on the Sri Lanka tour.
3. New Zealand (50.00 percent): The Kiwi team has 50 percent points with three wins and three losses in six Test matches so far. If New Zealand wins five of its remaining eight Test matches and draws two matches, it will finish with 60 percent points. But this seems to be a very difficult task because out of the remaining eight Test matches, it has to play three in India and two in Sri Lanka. Apart from this, it has to host three Test matches against England at home.
4. Sri Lanka (50.00 percent): The percentage of points of the Sri Lankan team is the same as that of New Zealand, but it has played only two series. It has nine more Tests in this cycle. It will need six wins or five wins and three draws to get 60% points. The Sri Lankan team is currently playing a three-match Test series against England. Then it has to play two Test matches each against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.
5. South Africa (38.89 percent): So far, South Africa has only scored 28 points from six Test matches, which includes a 1-0 win against West Indies last week. To reach 60% points, it needs 59 points from the remaining six Test matches, which means it will have to register five wins. Let us tell you that the African team has to play two Test matches each against Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home, while it will have two matches on the Bangladesh tour.
6. Pakistan (36.66 percent): Like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Pakistan team has also played only two series in the current cycle. It has a chance to take advantage of home conditions in the home series against Bangladesh, England and West Indies. Pakistan also has to play a Test series on South African soil. To reach 60% points, Pakistan will have to win at least six and draw two of its remaining nine Test matches. Or they can do so with seven wins. Pakistan has to play two Test matches each against Bangladesh, South Africa, West Indies, and three against England.
7. England (36.54 percent): If 19 penalty points were not deducted due to slow over rate, England would have had 48.72 percent points. Now to get 60% points, it will have to win eight out of the remaining nine Tests. If it wins 8 Tests and draws one, it will get a total of 100 points. If it wins all the nine Test matches, it can still have 60 percent points even after 6 points are deducted as penalty. England has to play three Test matches each against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand.
8. Bangladesh (25.00 percent): Bangladesh has four series left, but only one of them is at home (vs South Africa). To get 60% points, it needs a total of 75 points from eight Test matches, which means it needs six wins and one draw. This looks like a tough task. Bangladesh has two Test matches each against South Africa, India, West Indies and Pakistan.
9. West Indies (18.52 percent): The West Indies team has already played four series and has only 18.52 percent points. Even if it wins its last four Tests, it will still finish with 43.59% points. West Indies has to play 2 Test matches against Bangladesh (at home) and 2 against Pakistan (away).
Ranking is based on winning percentage
Let us tell you that this is the third cycle of the World Test Championship, which will run from 2023 to 2025. The ICC has already released the rules related to the points system for this third cycle. The team will get 12 points for winning the Test match, 4 points for drawing the match and 6 points for a tie.
100% points will be added for winning the match, 50% for a tie, 33.33% for a draw and 0% for losing. A total of 24 points will be available in a two match series and 60 points will be available in a five match series. Since the ranking in the points table is primarily determined on the basis of winning percentage.
India’s next 10 Test match schedule:
Bangladesh tour of India (2024)
First Test- Chennai- September 19-23
2nd Test – Kanpur – September 27 to October 1
New Zealand tour of India (2024)
October 16-20: First Test, Bengaluru
October 24-28: 2nd Test, Pune
November 1-5: 3rd Test, Mumbai
India tour of Australia (November-January 2025)
November 22-26: First Test, Perth
December 6-10: Second Test, Adelaide
December 14-18: Third Test, Brisbane
December 26-30: Fourth Test, Melbourne
Jan 03-07: Fifth Test, Sydney
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)