WTC फाइनल खेलने के लिए भारत को चाहिए 7 जीत: 10 टेस्ट बाकी, इनमें 5 ऑस्ट्रेलिया के खिलाफ; न्यूजीलैंड भी देगा चुनौती

After the Sri Lanka tour, Team India will not play any international cricket till September 18. From September 19, India will again play cricket continuously till the Champions Trophy next year. After this, the final of IPL and then the World Test Championship will be played.

India is currently the biggest contender to reach the WTC final. But for that, the team will have to win 7 out of the next 10 Tests. Among these, teams like New Zealand and Australia can increase India’s problems. India had lost the last 2 WTC finals against these 2 teams.

In this story, we will know how India can achieve a hat-trick of reaching the WTC finals. Also, we will know what Australia and New Zealand will have to do to reach the finals.

First let’s see the current position of the WTC points table…

Why is Australia below India despite having more points?
In WTC, teams get 12 points for a win, 4 for a draw and no points for a loss. Whereas in case of a tie, both teams get 6 points each. A team has to play 6 series in a 2-year cycle, but the number of matches in each team’s series is not fixed. Some series may have 2 and some may have 5 Tests.

In such a situation, if the rankings were made on the basis of total points, then those teams would have benefited more who played a series of 5 Tests. To avoid this situation, ICC gave importance to percentage points for ranking and also decided to decide the rank on the basis of this. It is because of percentage points that India is currently ahead of Australia despite having fewer points.

1. India’s position: lost Tests to England and South Africa
India played 3 series in this cycle of WTC. Defeated West Indies 1-0, but drew one Test in the series. The 2 Test series in South Africa was drawn 1-1, then lost one Test at home against England, but won the series 4-1. India missed opportunities to win 2 Tests against England and West Indies.

Currently, Team India has 74 points after 6 wins and 2 losses. The team is currently at the top with 68.51% points. If India manages to maintain the same percentage of points after all the tests are over, it will reach the final. Because last time India made it to the final with 58.80% and Australia with 66.67% points. In such a situation, having more than 65% points can be considered a safe position for now.

Australia’s biggest challenge
India now has to play 3 test series against Bangladesh, New Zealand and Australia. 2 test series against Bangladesh and 3 test series against New Zealand will be played in India. India has not lost any series in the last 12 years in home conditions, out of which India has lost only 4 test series. In such a situation, Team India can win all the five test series against New Zealand and Bangladesh. If India wins all the five test series, then the team will be the table topper with 134 points and 79.76% points.

After the home series, India will tour Australia in December, where there will be 5 Tests. Although the team has won the last 2 Test series here, but considering Australia’s form, there may be difficulties this time. Let’s see in points how the results of the series against Australia will affect India’s percentage points.

We have to win 2 Tests in Australia
If India wins all five Tests at home, then to have more than 65% points, it will have to win at least 2 Tests in Australia. If it loses or draws even one Test at home, then the team will have to win 3 Tests against Australia in any case. If India does not win the series, then the team may have to depend on the results of other teams.

India played both the finals of the World Test Championship, but lost both.

2. Australia’s position: Series drawn with England and West Indies
Australia drew the 2 test series against West Indies at home by 1-1. They defeated Pakistan by 3-0. The team went to England and drew the series by 2-2, while they went to New Zealand and won the series by 2-0. The team won 8 out of 12 test matches and lost 3, one match was also a draw. Due to this, the team has 62.50% points.

If India is defeated then the final is confirmed
Australia has 2 series against Sri Lanka and India. The team will play 2 Tests in Sri Lanka, while there will be 5 Tests against India at home. Defeating Sri Lanka 2-0 will give the team 67.85% points. Now let’s see in points what impact the results of the series against India will have on Australia.

Australia must win 5 Tests
If Australia also wants to make it to the WTC final, then it will have to win 5 out of the last 7 Tests. That means they will have to defeat both Sri Lanka and India in the series. If India somehow loses 2 Tests and the team is unable to win both the Tests in Sri Lanka, then their problems will increase. To avoid this, the Kangaroo team will put in all its efforts to win against India.

Australia won the World Test Championship 2023 title by defeating India.

3. New Zealand’s situation: Defeat against Australia proved costly
After winning the first WTC title, New Zealand finished sixth in the second cycle. The team is now third. They have 50% points from 3 wins and 3 losses in 6 Tests. The team lost 2-0 against Australia in their own home. The series in Bangladesh was drawn 1-1. However, the team defeated South Africa 2-0 in the series in their home.

India and England can cause trouble
New Zealand has 3 series left. They have to play 2 Test series in Sri Lanka and 3 Test series in India. While the team will play 3 Tests against England at home. All three series can be difficult, because the team won the only series in Sri Lanka in 1984. Whereas the team has not been able to win a series in India till date. The team’s last series against England at home was drawn 1-1. Now let’s know in points how many of the last 8 Tests New Zealand will have to win to keep more than 60% points.

New Zealand need to win 6 Tests
New Zealand will have to win 6 out of 8 tests to reach the final. Even if they win 5 tests, they will have a chance of reaching the final, but in this case their dependence on other teams will increase. On the other hand, if they lose 4 tests, their chances will decrease, if the team loses more matches than this, then it will not be able to play the final.

New Zealand has won the World Test Championship 2021 title.

Why is there a percentage points system in WTC?
When the first cycle of the Test Championship started in 2019, the ICC had said that there would be 120 points for a series of two or more matches. 60 points for each match in a two-Test series. 40 points for each match in a three-match series. Similarly, there were 30 points for each match in a 4-Test series and 24 points for each Test for a five-Test series.

Due to the Corona epidemic, the ICC changed the point system in November 2020. Due to the cancellation of many series, some teams were not able to complete the required 6 series. Due to this, the ICC implemented the rule of percentage point system instead of directly calculating the points.

How are percentage points calculated?
Percentage points of a team in WTC means that the team has scored that percentage of the maximum possible points. Like we appear in an exam and suppose the total marks of the exam are 500. If we get only 400 marks out of 500 then we say that I got 80% points.

As an example, currently India has 74 points in 9 matches of 3 series. The team could have scored a maximum of 108 points from 9 matches, but they have only 74 points. If we calculate it in percentage, then India will have 68.51% points. Its simple formula is, [(हासिल पॉइंट्स*100)/कुल पॉसिबल पॉइंट्स]In the condition of India this [(74*100)/108] It will happen. Similarly, percentage points of other teams can also be calculated.