New Delhi. New Zealand has won the series by defeating India for the second consecutive Test match. New Zealand has won the Test series in India for the first time in 69 years. This is the first time in 12 years that India has lost a Test series at home. All this has made a big difference on the race for the WTC final to be held next year. Still leading in the race for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. But now there is only a decimal difference between India (62.82 winning percentage) and Australia (62.50). This is such a difference, which can change even with the result of a test match.
If India wants to play the final, it will have to win at least 4 out of its last 6 test matches. It is not going to be easy to do this. India has to play the next test match against New Zealand in Mumbai. After this, Team India’s next tour is to Australia. A 5-match Test series is to be played between India and Australia from November this year. If the Australian team wins 3 out of 5 matches, then it may be difficult for India to play the WTC final. If Australia does not allow India to win more than one Test match on its soil, then the Rohit brigade’s dream of playing the WTC final may be shattered.
New Zealand took a leap
The New Zealand team was considered out of the race for the WTC final before coming to India tour. No one believed that the Kiwi team would win the series in India. Now all the speculations have been proved wrong. With this, New Zealand (50.00 winning percentage) has reached fourth position in the points table. After India, New Zealand has to play a series against England at home.
Sri Lanka can spoil the game
Sri Lanka (55.56 winning percentage) is at fourth position in the WTC points table. South Africa (47.62 winning percent) is at fifth position. Both these teams are also in the race to play the final. The African team has to play 5 test matches before the WTC final. Sri Lanka has to play 4 test matches.
FIRST PUBLISHED : October 26, 2024, 4:53 PM IST