- By Namrata Vijay
- Sun, 03 Nov 2024 04:22 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
WTC Final Qualification: The Men in Blue lost to New Zealand by 25 runs during the third and last Test in Mumbai on Sunday and they are now in a precarious situation as far as their WTC final hopes are concerned. India hasn't just lost the three-match Test series against New Zealand at home but has also slipped to the second position according to the latest WTC rankings.
The Pat Cummins-led side have claimed the position of table toppers with 62.50 points. India has slipped to the second position with a PCT of less than 60, i.e. 58.33.
On Sunday, the Rohit Sharma-led side were given a target of 147 runs after they skittled the Kiwis out for 174 runs during the second innings. Ravindra Jadeja was the standout performer as he registered figures of 5/55. And while chasing, except Rishabh Pant all the other batters struggled and that's why they were skittled out for 121 runs in 29.1 overs.
The hosts looked out of sorts throughout this Test series against New Zealand. They lost to them by eight wickets in the series opener after they recorded their lowest-ever first innings total of 46 runs during the first innings. They then lost to the Kiwis by 113 runs in Pune as the Men in Blue couldn't level the series despite bundling the visitors out for 259 and 255 runs.
It was the third time that India lost a Test series at home since the 2012 series against England and also broke their streak of winning consecutive 18 Test series at home. At the same time, the Tom Latham-led side haven't won a single Test series in India in the last 36 years and they won two matches in a span of 10 days and scripted history by winning their first-ever Test series in India.
From here on India's road to qualifying for the WTC summit clash has got even more complicated after losing this Test series against New Zealand.
India WTC final qualification scenarios:
The Rohit Sharma-led side are in deep trouble as they were supposed to win four of their last six Test matches of the current WTC cycle so as to reach the summit clash for the third consecutive time without depending on the results of the other team. And had they defeated New Zealand in Wankhede before going to Australia, would have made things simpler for them, since winning three consecutive matches in Australia won't be easy.
Losing the third Test match has landed them in a precarious situation as this was the first time that they suffered a whitewash at home since 2000 when South Africa had defeated them 2-0 back then. To reach the WTC summit clash without depending on other results, India was supposed to win four of their last six matches of the ongoing WTC cycle.
They have just five more Test matches left and will be playing all these against Australia in their backyard later this month, where the series opener will be held in Perth. They have to win four of these five matches and can only afford just one match to end in a tie if they want to reach the WTC final, without depending on other results.
It's not impossible to achieve this as they have won this series twice in the past but the Pat Cummins-led side has become quite successful as compared to the one played under Tim Paine's captaincy as they had also defeated India in the WTC final last year.
The Rohit Sharma-led side will depend on other results to qualify for the summit clash. They will also keep a close watch on the Test series between South Africa and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka recently thrashed Bangladesh at their home soil by 2-0 and is currently in fourth position with a point percentage of 54.17.
Sri Lanka (55.56) is currently in third place after defeating New Zealand 2-0 on home soil. However, they will face a stiff challenge against South Africa, who are also eyeing a first-ever qualification for the summit clash.