ICC World Test Championship, Points Table: India secure early lead with West Indies win

The win against West Indies saw India take the top spot in the World Test Championship standings with a total of 60 points after one match.

Virat Kohli-led India are the early leaders in the inaugural edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship. Team India secured its biggest win on overseas soil with a massive 318-run victory in the opening Test against West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Sunday to take the top spot in the points table. 

Chasing a tough target of 419 runs to win on Day Four of the opening match, the West Indies batsmen failed to counter pacer Jasprit Bumrah and other Indian bowlers to be eventually bundled out for 100 runs in 26.5 overs in their second innings. 

Bumrah delivered a memorable eight-over spell in which he claimed five wickets while conceding just seven runs. The brilliant figures saw him become the fastest bowler to take 50 Test wickets. Besides him, Ishant Sharma claimed three wickets and Mohammed Shami grabbed two to help the visitors take an unassailable 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series.

The win saw India take the numero-uno spot in the World Test Championship standings with a total of 60 points after just one match. 

Though Sri Lanka also have 60 points in their tally, they are standing behind India at the second spot in terms of the ratio of runs scored per wicket lost to runs conceded per wicket taken.

Australia, who are currently playing a five-match Ashes series against England, are placed at the third position with one win from three matches.

The Joe Root-led side, on the other hand, occupied the fourth position in the points table after scripting a dramatic one-wicket win over Australia in the third Test to level the series 1-1 at Headingley in Leeds.

Meanwhile, New Zealand rounded off the top five after securing an innings and 65-run win over Sri Lanka in the second Test match at P Sara Oval in Colombo on Sunday to draw the two-match series. 

Here is the complete points table:  

Rank	Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Tied	Points contested	PCT	Series won	RpW ratio*	Points earned
1	India	1	1	0	0	0	60	1.000	0	2.338	60
2	Sri Lanka	1	1	0	0	0	60	1.000	0	1.413	60
3	Australia	3	1	1	1	0	72	0.444	0	1.113	32
4	England	3	1	1	1	0	72	0.444	0	0.899	32
5	New Zealand	1	0	0	1	0	60	0.000	0	0.699	0
6	West Indies	1	0	1	0	0	60	0.000	0	0.428	0
7	Bangladesh	0	0	0	0	0	0	NA	0	NA	0
8	Pakistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	NA	0	NA	0
9	South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0	NA	0	NA	0

The World Test Championship (WTC), which was officially launched by the ICC on July 29, will see the top nine Test teams in the world – Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies – compete in 71 Test matches across 27 series, played over two years. The top two teams, in the end, will contest the ICC World Test Championship Final in June 2021 in the United Kingdom and the winners will be declared as ICC World Test Champions.

With points available for every single game, each team will play three home and three away series. Each series counts for 120 points, distributed over the number of matches in a series. For example, a two-match series will mean 60 points for each Test while a three-match series will give 40 points to each Test match. A tie will be 50% of the points available, whilst a draw will be a 3:1 points ratio.