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Both India and Australia can qualify for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final, which is scheduled to take place at Lord’s from June 11 to 15 next year.
Both India and Australia can qualify for WTC 2025 final. (Picture Credit: PTI)
As many as five teams—India, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and South Africa—are alive in the race to finish in the top-two of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 points table and qualify for the WTC 2025 final next year, which is scheduled to take place at the iconic Lord’s from June 11 to 15. India, which suffered defeats in the finals of the 2021 and 2023 WTC, currently sits at No. 1 position in the WTC 2023-25 points table with 61.11 PCT%.
2023 winners Australia is in 2nd place with 57.69 PCT%, and the two finalists of last year’s edition are followed by Sri Lanka (55.56 PCT%), New Zealand (54.55 PCT%), and South Africa (54.17 PCT%).
India is playing in its last Test series of the ongoing cycle against Australia in Australia these days, whereas New Zealand’s last series got underway on Thursday (November 28) against England in Christchurch. Australia, which is hosting India, and South Africa, which is hosting Sri Lanka, will play one more series each.
All five teams have a chance to book a place in the WTC 2025 final. For India to finish in the top-two, they have to make sure that they win the ongoing five-match series against Australia with a score line of either 4-0 or 5-0. If India manages to do so, then irrespective of how other teams perform in their remaining matches, the Rohit Sharma-led side will finish in the top-two and play in the WTC final for the third season in a row.
Australia will set up a rematch of the WTC 2023 final against India at Lord’s next year if they manage to win at least one Test against India in the ongoing series and then whitewash Sri Lanka in a two-match away series in January 2025. In addition to that, they will also need England to beat New Zealand 3-0, 2-0, 2-1, or 1-0 in the ongoing three-match series, and Sri Lanka beat South Africa 2-0 in the ongoing two-match series.
If this happens, then Australia will finish the WTC 2023-25 cycle with at least 55.26 PCT%, and Sri Lanka, South Africa, and New Zealand will finish the cycle with not more than 53.85, 52.78, and 50 PCT%, respectively.
