ICC World Test Championship: Now the equations are getting complicated regarding which team will reach the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). After the clean sweep against New Zealand and now losing the Adelaide Test against Australia, the path for the Indian team is looking very difficult. According to the new equation, the Indian team may now have to depend on Pakistan’s victory. Actually, South Africa has won the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka 2-0. The second match of the series was played at St. George’s Park, Gkebarha. South Africa won this match by 109 runs.
At present the Indian team is at third place in the points table.
After the win against Sri Lanka, South Africa has got a big advantage in the WTC points table. The African team has now reached number one. The South African team has a total of 76 points from 10 Test matches with 6 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. The team’s scoring percentage has reached 63.33. Which is more than Australia.
At the same time, the Australian team has now slipped to second place. So far Australia has 102 points from 14 matches with 9 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw. Its percentage is 60.71. Currently, the third-placed Indian team has 110 points in 16 matches with 9 wins, 6 losses and one draw. India’s percentage is 57.29. India has to play 3 more matches in the current cycle. Which is only against Australia.
How Pakistan team can help India
The Australian team is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for a 2-match Test series in January. Whereas the Indian team has to play the last matches of the WTC 2023-25 season on this Australia tour. On the other hand, the South African team has to play a 2-match Test series against Pakistan at home. Under the captaincy of Shan Masood, the Pakistani team has to play the first match in Centurion from 26 December and the second test in Cape Town from 3 January.
So will the Indian team reach the final?
If the Indian team beats Australia in its remaining three matches, then it can reach the finals. In this equation, if South Africa beats Pakistan in both the Tests, then it will reach the WTC final as the top seed. Whereas the Indian team will win all three matches and play the finals after finishing second.
But if the Australian team wins both the Test matches against Sri Lanka, then the Indian team can reach the WTC final by winning 2 out of its remaining 3 matches against Australia. And even after losing one match, they can remain in second place. But this equation will be formed only when Pakistan team wins both the matches against South Africa or the match is drawn.