The two-match test series between India and Bangladesh kick-started on a good note for the visitors as the KL Rahul-led men in blue came out victorious in the opening encounter. He led the team to a 188-run victory, now having a 1-0 lead in the series. The victory has displaced Sri Lanka to the fourth spot, whereas India became the third-ranked team on the World Test Championship 2021-23 (WTC 2023) points table.
Soon after India’s victory, the first test match of the ongoing series between Australia and South Africa witnessed the Proteas ending up on the losing side, which pushed their second position a place down. As a result, Dean Elgar and co are now placed third, which has propelled India to the second spot on the WTC 2023 points table. It has polished India’s chances to qualify for the WTC 2023 final, however, with ifs and buts still there.
Let’s glance at how India can qualify for the WTC 2023 final being in tough competition with Australia and South Africa.
India’s chances to qualify for WTC 2023 final
India now require to defeat Bangladesh by 2-0 to remain in the race, which means winning the final test of the ongoing series is crucial for them. As mentioned above, they are already leading the series by 1-0. Notably, they won the match without the inclusion of their frontline players, hence, have an edge in the second one too.
Their next task will be facing off against Australia, which holds equal importance for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team. India will host Pat Cummins and Co. for a four-match series next year, which will also be the last Test series for India in the ongoing WTC 2021-23 cycle. It means they can not afford a loss moving forward and, thus, need to win the series either by 4-0 or 3-0 to be in WTC 2023 race.
Australia, winning the first test against the visitors South Africa, will be flying high when the two sides meet during the forthcoming clash, scheduled for the Boxing Day Test. For India to qualify for the WTC 2023 final, they would hope for South Africa to lose the remaining matches as well.
In that case, India can have the upper hand over Proteas. And, if India overpower Australia in the home series next year, they will achieve the qualification mark of 64.35%, which will likely place them in the event’s final.
