World Test Championship Final: The Indian cricket team is on Australia tour where it is playing a five-match Test series against the host team. At present this series is tied at 1-1. Now the fourth match of the Test series will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from 26 December. Whichever team wins this match will be ahead 2-1 in the series. In such a situation, this match is important for both the teams to reach the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25.
The battle for the WTC final continues…
The picture of the final in the World Test Championship 2023-25 is not clear yet. Only eight matches are left but four teams are still completely in the race for the final. Apart from India, it includes teams from Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. New Zealand, England, Pakistan, Bangladesh and West Indies are already out of the race for the final.
Currently, South Africa is at number one in the WTC points table. South Africa has 76 points from 10 matches with 6 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. South Africa’s score is 63.33 percent. The Australian team stood second. Australia has 106 scores in 15 matches with 9 wins, 4 losses and 2 draws. His score is 58.89 percent. At third place, India has 114 points in 17 matches with 9 wins, 6 losses and 2 draws. India’s score is 55.88 percent. In the current cycle, India has to play 2 matches which are against Australia.
At number four is the New Zealand team with a score of 48.21 percent which is out of the race. The Sri Lankan team is in fifth place but its chances of reaching the final are less. The score of Sri Lankan team is 45.45 percent and it can reach the maximum mark of 53.85 percent. England is at sixth, Pakistan at seventh, Bangladesh at eighth and West Indies at ninth.
This is the final equation for the Indian team
The Indian team will have to win both the test matches against Australia to reach the final easily. If the Indian team draws or loses even a single match, it has to depend on other results.
If the Indian team wins the series 2-1, then they will have to hope that Sri Lanka draws one match in the two-match home series against Australia or the South African team loses the series against Pakistan.
If the series against Australia is drawn 2-2, then India will have 55.26 percent points. Meanwhile, the Indian team will reach the final only if Sri Lanka wins the two-match Test series against Australia at home 1-0 or 2-0 or Pakistan beats South Africa 2-0.
If the Melbourne and Sydney Tests are drawn then the Indian team will finish with a score of 53.51. Meanwhile, if South Africa loses both the Tests to Pakistan, or the Sri Lankans win the series against Australia 1-0 or draw it 0-0, then India will reach the final. If the series against Sri Lanka is tied 0-0, Australia will be tied with India on 53.51 per cent points but India will be ahead of them on the basis of winning more series in this cycle. If Sri Lanka wins the series 2-0 then it will overtake India.
If the Indian team loses the series against Australia by 1-2, then it will be out of the race for the finals with 51.75 percent marks. This is the third cycle of the World Test Championship which will run from 2023 to 2025. ICC had already issued the rules related to the point system for this third cycle. A team gets 12 points for a test match, 4 points for a drawn match and 6 points for a tied match. A score of 100 percent is added for a win, 50 percent for a tie, 33.33 percent for a draw and zero percent for a loss. A total of 24 points are available in a two-match series and 60 points in a five-match series. Ranking in the points table is determined primarily on the basis of winning percentage. The final of the current cycle of the WTC will be played at the Mecca of cricket, Lord’s, from June 11-15 next year.
Remaining matches of World Test Championship 2023-25
India V/S Australia
Fourth Test: Melbourne, 26-30 December
Fifth Test: Sydney, 3-7 January
Pakistan V/S South Africa
1st Test: Centurion, 26-30 December
Second Test: Cape Town, 3-7 January
Pakistan V/S West Indies
1st Test: Karachi, 16-20 January
Second Test: Multan, 24-28 January
Sri Lanka V/S Australia
1st Test: India, 29 January-2 February
Second Test: India, 6-10 February
World Test Championship Final
Singles match: Lord’s, 11–15 June
