IND vs NZ: India qualification scenario for ICC WTC 2023-25 final after loss to New Zealand in 2nd test

The ICC WTC 2023-25 final will be played in June next year, scheduled to be hosted at Lord’s.

The Indian cricket team suffered a 113-run defeat in the second IND vs NZ test in Pune. This, following on from the seven-wicket loss in the first test in Bengaluru, meant that India’s 18 test series winning streak at home finally was snapped.

This is New Zealand’s maiden test series win in India, who lost their first home series since 2012.

After thrashing England 4-1 and Bangladesh 2-0 earlier this year, it was expected that India would sweep the Kiwis 3-0 in the IND vs NZ test series. However, the Indian team and fans have been left stunned as they have gone 0-2 down with one game to go. This is right ahead of the five-test tour of Australia, making worries mount for the Asian giants.

To win this series was critical for India with regard to the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final, which is slated to be played at the Lord’s June next year.

Now, having lost the first two tests and only six more tests left in the ongoing WTC cycle, India have been pushed into a corner if they have to make it to the ICC WTC final.

While India still remain at the top of the ICC WTC points table, their PCT (percentage of points won) has fallen from 74% to 62.82% with these two losses. Australia are second with 62.50 PCT, followed by Sri Lanka who have PCT of 55.56.

Earlier, it was felt that India, Australia and Sri Lanka are chiefly in the race for the ICC WTC final. But India’s twin losses to New Zealand and South Africa’s win Dhaka have meant that New Zealand (PCT 50.00) and South Africa (PCT 47.62) are well and truly in the race as well.

India have six more tests left in this cycle: one against New Zealand and five against Australia.

India qualification scenario for ICC WTC 2023-25 final after loss to New Zealand in 2nd test:

For India to qualify for the ICC WTC 2023-24 final, they need to win four and draw one test out of their remaining six tests to finish with PCT of 65.79, which is likely to be a safe bet to qualify for the WTC final next year.

If they fail to do this, they will have to depend on other teams’ results to go in their favour. Importantly, Sri Lanka are to play both Australia (home) and South Africa (away) and the outcomes of these series would heavily impact the ICC WTC points table.

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