India’s chances of featuring in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final have been dealt a big blow after a humiliating defeat in New Zealand.
In the last match held at Wankhede Stadium of Mumbai also, New Zealand triumphed by 26 runs and thus New Zealand emerged as the first side that clean-sweep India in three three-match Test series in India.
Currently, India is a place down in the WTC rankings and that means the team can ill afford to lose to Australia in this series if they are to have any hope of making it to the WTC final.
India’s Position in the WTC Points Table
The series will be a big acid test… and the winner will definitely qualify for the WTC final.
New Zealand’s victory has demoted India to the second position on the WTC Points table, with a PCT of 58.33%.
The current ratings see Australia with a PCT of 62.50% from the last test series carried out in the year March 2024 followed by Sri Lanka with 55.56% and New Zealand has moved a step up with a PCT of 54.54%.
Instead, India is squeezed and will have to come up with a good performance in the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia to stand a reasonable chance of qualifying.
Related Article: Cricketing Legends Express Views over India’s Historic 3-0 Series Defeat to New Zealand
A Must-Win Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series
India is slated to visit Australia in November to play five Tests starting from November 22 at Perth.
Cricket-wise, India has had a good time in Australia, currently being the defending champion of the Border Gavaskar trophy.
But to assert itself in the final of WTC 2025, India will have to win at least four of the five future Tests.
That is, India will be sure of making the WTC final if they win four games or if they win three games, but more dependent on other teams’ performances.
It is a massive challenge, but it is also a silver lining as India will have a chance to claw back in the WTC points race.
WTC Final Heartbreaks in the Past and Future Path
India has played in both previous WTC finals but, as it turns out, has been vanquished on both occasions, the first to New Zealand in 2021 and the second to Australia in 2023.
This time the captain Rohit Sharma and the Indian team are determined to come out of these pitfalls and do well on Australian soil.
The series will be a big acid test for both India and England and the winner will definitely qualify for the WTC final.
However, it was more challenging for India to reach the finals of WTC 2025; but India has become a successful team, and the team still wants to win and give them a sense of qualifying for the championships as far as WTC 2025 is concerned.
References:
TimesofIndia.com
HindustanTimes.com
