The Indian team seemed to be easily making it to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC), but suddenly its equation seems to be changing. Team India is in danger of being out of the race for the WTC final. The reason for this is New Zealand. Fans were hopeful that India would easily secure its place by defeating the visiting team 3-0 or 2-1. But the New Zealand team has turned the tables. It has taken a 2-0 lead in the 3 match test series. The Indian team had to face defeat first in Bengaluru and then in Pune. With the loss of the second match, the Indian team lost the home series after 12 years and now it will have to work hard for the WTC final as well. Let us know what changes have happened in the equation of WTC after the Pune Test.
What was the impact of the defeat in Pune Test?
Team India, captained by Rohit Sharma, was on top in the WTC points table before the Pune Test with 68.06 percentage points. Whereas Australia’s team was at second place with 62.50 percent points. Apart from this, Sri Lanka was at third position with 55.56 percentage points, South Africa was at fourth position with 47.62 percentage points and New Zealand was at fifth position with 44.44 percentage points.
After the defeat in Pune, Team India’s percentage in points has come down to 62.82. However, there was no impact on the position, because despite the defeat, Rohit Sharma’s team is ahead by a slight margin of 0.32 percentage points. That means the crown of number one is about to go. The New Zealand team has benefited from this victory. She has achieved 50 percent points and has left South Africa behind and has come to fourth position.
Will Team India be out of the WTC final?
After the defeat in the Pune Test, the biggest question is whether the Indian team will be out of the race for the WTC final? At present, Team India is not out, but the danger of being out is definitely looming over it. The Indian team now has 6 matches left in this cycle. If it has to make it to the finals without depending on any team, it will have to win at least 4. But this seems difficult to happen, because one match is against in-form New Zealand and 5 matches are against Australia at home.
Sri Lanka, which is at third position in the points table, has 4 matches left, out of which it is necessary to win 3. In this, it has to play 2 matches against Australia at home, while the remaining 2 matches are to be played against South Africa at home. Apart from this, New Zealand, which is at number four, now has 4 matches in this cycle, out of which one has to be played against India in Mumbai. There are 3 matches to be played against England at home. New Zealand will have to win all these matches to go straight to the finals. South Africa has to win 4 out of the remaining 5 matches. Of these, he has to play 1 match against Bangladesh at his home and 2 matches each against Sri Lanka and Pakistan at his home.
