England series crucial for India for a place in ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 Final

England tour of India 2023-24: How India can make to World Test Championship Final 2023-25. A quick look at the Points table and way ahead.

England tour of India 2023-24 is crucial for India from WTC Final's POV (Photo: ©X/Twitter)

India will be looking to go top of the ICC World Test Championship 2023/25 points table when they take on England in a five-match Test series at home. A win in each Test will help India earn 60 points, and climb to the top of the table with 86 points from 9 games. Australia, who are currently on top of the table, will move 78 points if they beat West Indies in the second Test, but would have played a game more. Taking the Points Percentage System (PCT) into account, India will be on top with 79.62, and Australia will be on 65. (For the record, PCT = Points won by a team / Points contested * 100)

But before that, India will have to counter Bazball – the attacking cricket England play that has given them a lot of success in Test cricket recently. However, if India find success in the Test series vs England and collect as many points as possible, they will take a step forward to strengthen their place in the final of the WTC for the third straight season.

Read More: IND vs ENG, 2024: Who could stand up in the absence of Virat Kohli during first two Tests

Here’s how each team stand in the ICC World Test Championship 2023/25 currently

Team	Matches	Won	Loss	Draw	PT	PCT
Australia	9	6	2	1	66	61.11
India	4	2	1	1	26	54.16
South Africa	2	1	1	0	12	50
New Zealand	2	1	1	0	12	50
Bangladesh	2	1	1	0	12	50
Pakistan	5	2	3	0	22	36.66
England	5	2	2	1	9	15
West Indies	3	0	2	1	4	11.11
Sri Lanka	2	0	2	0	0	0

Read More: Will England still go for Bazball on India’s spinning tracks?

India would like to make the most of the five home Tests vs England (Photo: ©X/Twitter)

Why England Tour of India 2023-24 is so crucial for India for a final spot in the WTC 2023/25?

A good opportunity to collect maximum WTC points as India are playing at home

India are almost invincible at home. They have not lost a series at home since 2012 when England were the last team to defeat them. Even though England have been a success with their Bazball style of cricket, how effective they would be on Indian tracks against quality Indian spin bowling is a big question. No other teams, even England in the past few tours, have managed to crack the Indian spin code. 

Hence, if India win this series by a 5-0 margin or 4-0 or so, it would give a great boost to their chances of making it to the finals. India’s next two home series in the WTC cycle are against Bangladesh and New Zealand in October/November. But thinking too far would not be prudent when India have a good chance of trouncing England now and boosting their stand in the WTC points table.

India need not keep it till the last

In the last WTC cycle, it was seen that India had to depend on other results to book a berth in the final. It was a New Zealand victory over Sri Lanka on the last ball of the Test match to see India through to the final. They would not like a repeat of that and rather focus on going far ahead of the competitors by collecting maximum points in the England series. If India collect maximum points against England, and lose a few Tests here and there in the business end of the championship, it won’t hurt their chances much of making it to the final.

Read More: WTC 2023-25: India will play 2 five-match series against Australia and England in new WTC cycle

How other top teams stand in the WTC cycle

Australia

Currently, Australia are on top of the WTC 2023/25 points table, having played the most matches (9) with 66 points. After the second West Indies Test, they will be playing two Tests in New Zealand where the Kiwis are extremely competitive. They will then play a five-match Test series against India at home. They have lost their last two home series to India. Hence, Australia’s task has been cut out. They have to be at their absolute best against a former WTC champion, New Zealand, and two-time WTC runners-up, India. 

England 

England are at 7th in the points table but trust them to bounce back on the back of their Bazball. Even if they do stumble against India, they have six Tests against lower-ranked Test teams - Sri Lanka and West Indies - at home to make up for it and climb to the top of the WTC cycle.

Other teams

South Africa and New Zealand are the under-dogs and if they play to their potential and maximise the points in the home series, they too can claim a berth for the top two spots. They have just played 2 Tests each and have a long way to go in the WTC cycle.

Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh

It won’t be wrong to say they just make up the numbers in the WTC points tally as their Test cricket quality leaves a lot to be desired to match up the top teams in the longest format of the game.

Read More: IND vs ENG, 2024: Do-or-die Test series awaits Gill; Patidar, Easwaran potential backups for no. 3