India extend lead at No. 1 in the World Test Championship

NewsThey had slipped to fifth after the defeat in Hyderabad, but are now firmly back on top

India have extended their lead at the top of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) points table by beating England in Dharamsala to win the five-match series 4-1. They will stay at No. 1 irrespective of the result of the ongoing Christchurch Test between New Zealand and Australia, who are second and third respectively in the points table.

The 4-1 series win also helped India overtake Australia at the top of the ICC’s Test rankings and they will remain No. 1 even if Australia beat New Zealand in Christchurch. India are also the top-ranked ODI and T20I side at present.

India had slipped to fifth place in the WTC points table after losing the first Test of the series against England in Hyderabad, but climbed back up to No. 1 by winning the next three matches. The innings victory in Dharamsala extended their percentage points to 68.51%, having earned 74 out of 108 points after playing nine matches (six wins, two defeats, one draw) in the ongoing WTC cycle.

According to the WTC points system, a team gets 12 points for a Test win, six for a tie, four for a draw, and nothing for a defeat. And they are ranked according to the percentage of points won because each team plays a different number of Tests in the WTC cycle.

Points are also deducted for slow over rate penalties, which is why England have only 21 points despite winning three Tests in this WTC cycle. They have lost 19 points for slow over-rate penalties and are in eighth place with only 17.5 percentage points after playing ten Tests.

New Zealand are presently second with 60% points and Australia are third with 59.09%. If New Zealand win the ongoing Christchurch Test, they will increase their percentage points to 66.67%; and if Australia win, they will move ahead of New Zealand on 62.5%. With only a Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Test series to go before the IPL season begins on March 22, India are set to remain No. 1 for a few months.

Bangladesh are presently fourth in the WTC points table, but they have played only one series in the ongoing cycle, followed by Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka.

The top two teams at the end of the WTC cycle will play the final at Lord’s in June 2025. India had qualified for both the previous WTC finals so far, but lost to New Zealand in 2021 and Australia in 2023.