World Test Championships: India zoom to top of table, find out what they need to reach final

India now just need to ensure that they don’t lose the final Test, which will also be played in Ahmedabad starting March 4, because a win or a draw against England will be enough to reach the WTC final later this year at Lord’s.

Indian captain Virat Kohli (centre) celebrates a dismissal during the third Test against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. (Source: Twitter)

India posted a massive 10-wicket win in the third Test against England at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad inside two day. The win means that Virat Kohli’s side have now catapulted to the top of the World Test Championships (WTC) ranking with 490 points, well ahead of New Zealand in 420. 

The home side now just need to ensure that they don’t lose the final Test, which will also be played in Ahmedabad starting March 4, because a win or a draw against England will be enough to reach the WTC final later this year at Lord’s. The loss on Thursday (February 25) means that England are now out of the race to make the final but if they defeat India in the fourth and final Test, Australia will leapfrog India and make the final against New Zealand. 

Kohli and Co. have played six series in the WTC 2019-21 cycle in which they have won 11 Tests, lost four matches and played a single draw. India have a solid winning percentage of 71 and have accumulated 490 points so far after the pink-ball Test. Whereas, New Zealand, who have a total of 420 points, have participated in five series under WTC – won seven matches and lost four.

India top the table

They now need to win or draw the last Test to book a place in the #WTC21 final #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/FQcBTw6dj6 — ICC (@ICC) February 25, 2021

Australia occupy the third position in the ICC World Test Championship points table with 332 points and 69.2 percentage. They had played four series – won eight matches and lost four. Australia have also played a couple of draws.  

Meanwhile, England are out of race for final in the World Test Championship. With a percentage of 64.1 and 442 points – England have won 11 matches, lost six and played three draws in the WTC cycle.  

Talking about the third day-night Test, India registered only their second Test victory inside two days, overhauling a meagre target of 49 against England to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series. The last time India won inside two days in a Test was in 2018, beating Afghanistan in Bengaluru. England’s previous Test loss inside two days came way back in 1921 against Australia. 

There was no end to England’s batting woes against the spin duo of Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin as the side folded for 81 in its second innings. This was the team’s lowest Test total against India. 

Openers Rohit Sharma (25) and Shubman Gill (15) then completed the formalities in 7.4 overs, barely half an hour into the final session of the day. Earlier, Patel picked five wickets in the English second essay, adding to his outstanding haul of six in the first innings. His became the best bowling performance in a pink-ball match. 

Ashwin, on the other hand, added four more to his first-day spoils of three scalps to cross the 400-wicket mark in the longest format. 

He became the fourth Indian after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417) to achieve the feat. England’s scorecard bore a dismal look with all-rounder Ben Stokes 25 and Ollie Pope’s 12 being the best contributions.