New Delhi . After the victory of the Indian team in the Test series against Bangladesh, India has reached a very strong position in the points table of the World Test Championship (WTC). However, Rohit Sharma and Co. still need several more wins to make it to the WTC finals. There are 26 Test matches left in the current WTC cycle and the race for the first two spots is becoming quite exciting. Let's take a look at what position all the teams are in right now.
Sri Lanka
Percentage Points – 55.56, Remaining Series – South Africa (2 Tests, away), Australia (2 Tests, at home)
The New Zealand team was defeated 20 by Sri Lanka in the last Test series. Due to this spectacular victory, the Sri Lankan team has gained 24 important points. For this reason, the Sri Lankan team has now also become a contender to reach the WTC final.
Their remaining four Test matches are against two teams who are themselves favorites to play in the WTC final. If the Sri Lankan team wins all four matches without losing any points due to slow over rate, then they will have 69.23 percent points and then they will not be dependent on the results of other teams. However, if they lose one match and win three, then in such a situation they will have 61.54 percent points, but still their chances of reaching the finals will remain.
India
Percentage points: 74.24, Remaining series: New Zealand (3 Tests, home) and Australia (5 Tests, away)
India have become even stronger at the top of the points table after their impressive win in Kanpur. If they win all the remaining matches, they will have 85.09 percent points. However, their effort will be to score at least so many points that they do not have to depend on other results to play the WTC Finals. For this they will have to win at least four test matches and draw two test matches (56 points). Due to which he will reach 67.54 percent marks. If South Africa wins all its remaining six Tests then it can reach 69.44 points. If Australia wins four Tests and two Tests end in draws (assuming they lose one Test to India, and draw two while winning the other four), then they can only reach 64.04 points.
If India gets less than 56 points then it may not be in the top two places. If they win four matches and draw one match (52 points) then it is possible that Australia and South Africa will overtake India.
Sri Lanka can also finish the points table with more than 67 percentage points but to reach there they will have to win against South Africa and Australia which will work in India's favour.
bangladesh
Percentage points: 34.38, Remaining series: West Indies (2 Tests, away), South Africa (2 Tests, at home)
After losing two matches against India, Bangladesh has dropped from 45.83% percentage points to 34.38. Even if they win their remaining four matches, they will still be able to reach only 56.25 percent marks, which will not be enough to reach the top two positions.
new zealand
Percentage points: 37.50, Remaining series: India (3 Tests, away), England (3 Tests, at home)
On paper, New Zealand can still reach the 64.29 percentage mark by winning all six of their remaining matches, but their recent form does not give hope for this possibility to be true. Their next three Tests are against India in India, who are difficult for any other strong team to beat at home. If New Zealand wins four of the remaining six matches and loses two, they will still have 50 percent points in their account.
Australia
Percentage points: 62.50, Remaining series: India (5 Tests, at home), Sri Lanka (2 Tests, at home)
Australia is currently second in the table with 62.5 percent points and if it wins all its seven matches then it can have 76.32 percent points in its account. The two teams against which it has to play two series, India and Sri Lanka, are also strong contenders to reach the final. Five wins will take them to 65.79 percentage points but India and South Africa will still be in a position to overtake Australia. Things will start becoming clear once the series against India starts, because by then India will have played a Test series against New Zealand at home.
South Africa
Percentage points: 38.89, Remaining series: Sri Lanka (2 Tests, at home), Pakistan (2 Tests, at home), Bangladesh (2 Tests, away)
If South Africa wins all its remaining matches then they will have 69.44 per cent points, which will be enough to make the finals. Because then only one of India and Australia will be able to cross this figure. If five matches are won and one match is drawn, South Africa will have 63.89 percent points and will still remain a contender. Whereas if they win five and lose one, they will have 61.11 percent points in their account, their claim will still remain but in such a situation they will have to depend more on other results.
England
Percentage points: 42.19, Remaining series: Pakistan (3 Tests, away), New Zealand (3 Tests, away)
England's defeat in the final Test against Sri Lanka has decided that they cannot go beyond the 60 per cent mark in this cycle. By winning all his remaining six tests, he can reach only 57.95 points. Even in such a situation, they will have to depend on other results.
Pakistan
Percentage points: 19.05, Remaining series: England (3 Tests, home), South Africa (2 Tests, away), West Indies (2 Tests, home)
Pakistan not only lost two Test matches against Bangladesh but also suffered a loss of six points due to slow over rate. Due to this, his percentage marks have come down from 36.66 to 19.05. From here, even if he wins the remaining seven matches, he can still reach the maximum score of 59.52 percent. Pakistan's recent form does not indicate that they will be able to get there.
west indies
Percentage points: 18.52, Remaining series: Bangladesh (2 Tests, home), Pakistan (2 Tests, away)
West Indies have played four series so far and during this time they have been able to score only 20 points out of 108. Even if he wins the remaining four Test matches, he will still be able to reach only 43.59 percent marks.
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Image Credit: KhasKhabar.