India's path to WTC Final: How close are they to Lord's after Bangladesh series win?

Oct. 1, 2024, 10:04 a.m.

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India inched closer to securing a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final with a convincing seven-wicket triumph over Bangladesh in the second Test at Kanpur on Tuesday. This win marks a 2-0 series sweep for India against Bangladesh, despite rain threatening to draw the match in Kanpur. Although rain disrupted play for two days in Kanpur, once Bangladesh were bowled out for 233 in their first innings, India, after being put into bat, declared their innings at 285 in just 34.4 overs with one wicket in hand. This gave them a commanding 52-run lead.

Advertisement India's bowlers delivered a remarkable performance in the second innings, bowling out Bangladesh for a meager 146. The 95-run target was achieved in a swift 17.2 overs, with Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring his second half-century of the match.

This recent victory solidifies India's position at the top of the WTC 2023-25 standings. They have secured eight wins from their 11 matches, accumulating 98 points and boasting a points percentage of 74.24.

WTC 2023-25 points table:

Position Team Matches Won Lost Draw Point deductions Points Points percentage 1 India 11 8 2 1 2 98 74.24 2 Australia 12 8 3 1 10 90 62.50 3 Sri Lanka 9 5 4 0 0 60 55.56 4 England 16 8 7 1 19 81 42.19 5 Bangladesh 7 3 4 0 3 33 39.29 6 South Africa 6 2 3 1 0 28 38.89 7 New Zealand 8 3 5 0 0 36 37.50 8 Pakistan 7 2 5 0 8 16 19.05 9 West Indies 9 1 6 2 0 20 18.52 Team India now has eight more matches left in the current WTC cycle. Three against New Zealand on home soil, with the first Test starting on October 16th at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, and five against Australia in their territory.

How can India qualify for WTC final 2025?

India needs to secure just three more Test victories out of the remaining eight matches to qualify for the WTC 2025 final. This means if Rohit Sharma and his team manage to sweep New Zealand 3-0 at home, they will depart for Australia having already booked their place in the 2025 WTC final.

If India fails to secure a win in the upcoming series, they will be compelled to seek victories in Australia, adding further intensity to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

India emerged victorious in their last two Test series in Australia, occurring in 2018-19 and 2020-21.

Australia holds the second position in the WTC standings, having won eight matches out of their 12, accumulated 90 points, and secured a points percentage of 62.50.

India has participated in both World Test Championship Finals, held in 2021 and 2023, but fell short on both occasions with New Zealand and Australia claiming the title respectively.