WTC 2023-25: India will play two five-match series against Australia and England in new WTC cycle. India to start next WTC cycle against West Indies from July 12.
Just a day after Australia earned victory against India to become champions in the second edition of the World Test Championship (WTC) in 2021-23, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the fixtures for the third WTC cycle in 2023-25.
Each WTC series in the cycle will include two to five Tests, with all the nine teams competing in six series - three at home and three away. The teams don’t necessarily play the same number of matches in the WTC cycle, with the standings determined by the percentage of all possible points earned.
Each Test included in the WTC has 12 points available for a victory, with four awarded to each team for a draw, and six to each team for a tie. No points are earned from a defeat while teams can lose points for slow over rates.
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India will begin next WTC cycle with two-match series in the Caribbean
India will begin their 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle with a two-match series in the Caribbean on July 12. Dominica will host the first Test which is going to be India’s first at the venue in over a decade. The Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad will stage the second and final Test of the series from July 20.
At the end of this year in December 2023, India will play two Tests in South Africa. After returning back to India, Rohit Sharma and Co. will host England for five Tests in January and February of 2024. Bangladesh will visit India for two Test matches in September and October of 2024. Following Bangladesh’s visit, New Zealand will take part in three Tests in October and November 2024 in India.
India’s WTC cycle will end with a five-match Test series of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia from November 2024 to January 2025 down under. This will be the first five-match Test series between these two teams since 1991-92. This means India will participate in 19 Tests in this cycle.
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WTC 2023-25 | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away |
Opponents | New Zealand | Bangladesh | England | West Indies | South Africa | Australia |
No. of Tests | 03 | 02 | 05 | 02 | 02 | 05 |
India should look for right balance of youth and experience in next WTC cycle
Undoubtedly, India has done really well to reach the finals of both editions of the Word Test Championship after their hard work for two years in each cycle. But all the hard work went in vain given their defeats in two back-to-back finals against New Zealand and Australia, respectively.
Now the question rises whether they require to change their approach for the next cycle looking for some new young faces? If India qualify for the next WTC final in 2025, which is going to take place in Lord’s in London, most of their senior members of the Test team will cross the 35+ age mark.
By 2025, their current captain Rohit Sharma and veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be 38 while their star performers Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja will turn 36. At this time, India may look to add some youngsters in the Test team going into the Caribbean series to start their preparation for the next WTC cycle. The right balance of youth and experience can propel India to new highs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was part of the WTC final squad and if reports are to believed, then he might get another chance to be part of the West Indies tour. Jaiswal has done a fabulous job in first-class cricket with 1845 runs in 15 games at an average of 80.21 and strike rate of 67.48 including nine centuries and couple of fifties. Rajat Patidar has also done an excellent job in the middle order with 3795 first-class runs in 52 games at an average of 45.72 and strike rate of 52.61 besides pocketing 22 fifties and 11 hundreds.
Few players may need to make their way out of the team but the young India players can play with fresh energy and freedom and a look at some of the other teams will portray the same picture of how they have managed the right balance between experience and freshness in the team. It’s the best possible time to start the transition phase.
India will begin the two-match Test series against West Indies on July 12 at the Windsor Park in Dominica.